at 18:29 on January 11, 2007, EST.
By GREGORY BONNELL

TORONTO (CP) - A Canadian man whose death while on vacation in Mexico remains shrouded in mystery had his Acapulco hotel room robbed while he was clinging to life in hospital, his best friend and travel companion said Thursday.

While Adam DePrisco's family held out hope that X-rays of the 19-year-old's head injuries would assist Ontario's chief coroner in uncovering the truth, his travel mate Marco Calabro continued to rail against Mexican officials for suggesting the death was a hit-and-run accident.

"I'm worried they might do something to his body (before it's returned to Canada)," said Calabro, who has called on Ottawa and the RCMP to become involved in the case.

DePrisco, whose body is scheduled to arrive in Canada on Friday night, was found unconscious early Sunday outside an Acapulco nightclub. The injuries to his face and head were so severe that he was almost unrecognizable, said Calabro.

After spending several hours at the hospital with DePrisco, who died Monday night, Calabro said he returned to the pair's hotel room to discover it had been robbed.

"My camera, my camcorder, everything was gone," Calabro said. "The police don't care - I did report it to them, but they didn't jot that down."

While Mexican officials were quick to declare the death a likely hit-and-run, an Acapulco city official who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity said witnesses had seen nightclub staff and taxi drivers severely beating DePrisco.

The man's grief-stricken parents, who have been staying with relatives just blocks away from their home in Woodbridge, Ont., "just want to see their son."

"They don't have any answers, they don't have a clear reason (for his death)," said 23-year-old Luisa Pannozzi, DePrisco's cousin.

"We're going to get as close to the truth as we can . . . through the coroner."

The family is hopeful that X-rays brought back from Mexico, combined with an autopsy to be performed by Ontario chief coroner Dr. Barry McLellan, will provide those answers.

"We have X-rays that the doctors in Mexico didn't want us to have," said Pannozzi. "The coroner said that's almost like gold, that most of the time they don't get those."

If the body arrives as scheduled then the autopsy will likely take place over the weekend, McLellan said.

"We're going to get as much information as we can and hopefully help to clarify some of the unanswered questions."

DePrisco's death comes nearly a year after Dominic and Nancy Ianiero of Woodbridge, Ont. - the same suburb north of Toronto where the DePrisco family lives - were found slain in their hotel room at a resort near Cancun.

Critics have accused Mexican authorities, who quickly identified a pair of resort guests from Thunder Bay, Ont., as prime suspects, of botching the investigation and trying to cover up the truth.

While attending the nightclub early Sunday, DePrisco was on the dance floor when he was pulled close by a girl. When another man objected, the bouncers ejected DePrisco, Calabro said.

A group of young men followed DePrisco outside, leading Calabro to believe that his friend had been "set up." The bloody pavement outside the club was hosed down immediately after DePrisco was taken to hospital, Calabro added.

Acapulco - with an economy fuelled by tourist dollars - has witnessed a dramatic increase in violence during the past two years as rival drug organizations battle to control the port, said Mexican human rights advocate Ana Hernandez.

"Obviously, the Mexican authorities are going to want to diminish the case and not make it seem that a tourist was actually beaten to death outside a nightclub," said Hernandez, deputy director of the Tlachinollan Human Rights Center.

"Unfortunately, he and his family will have to wait for probably many years in order to obtain justice, because that's how the justice works" in Mexico, she added.


©The Canadian Press, 2007

For the family

that poor guy mexico can be a bit dicey for travelers. i still love it though.