Belize police confirm man’s body found that of missing Canadian Brian Townsend

EDMONTON – Police in central America have confirmed that a body found in Guatemala is that of a Canadian man who was reported missing on Christmas.

Brian Townsend, who lived in Belize for the last nine years doing missionary work, was believed to have been abducted from his home on Christmas Eve.

On Dec. 27, a body with no identification was found in Guatemala.

Dinsdale Thompson, commanding officer of a Belize police station closest to the Guatemalan border, says investigators took photos of the body.

He says police compared them to those of Townsend supplied by the family and that they matched.

Thompson also says Townsend’s son, Kory, who went to Belize to search for his father, looked at the photographs and also confirmed the identity.