The mother of Hollyoaks star Callum Kerr is now believed to have been murdered by her husband, after the couple were found dead in their home in France earlier this month.
The bodies of Andrew Searle, 65, and his wife Dawn, 56, were discovered in the hamlet of Les Pesquies, near Toulouse, after neighbours became worried as they hadn’t seen them walk their dogs. The couple had moved to the town roughly ten years ago.
On February 6, Mrs Searle’s body was found outside their home by her friend with a head injury and jewellery scattered around her. Mr Searle, who was a former financial investigator, was found dead inside the house.
It was initially believed that Mrs Searle had tried to run away from an attack before she was battered to death. This was supported by the fact that cupboards and drawers were discovered open, as well as furniture being upended.
But now inquiry sources have said in a new update that if Mrs Searle was murdered in the garden, neighbours would have likely heard the commotion. One investigator told The Sunday Post: “The Searle house is extremely close to other houses, and the noise of screams would have carried. In fact, nobody heard anything.
“What is very likely is that the victim was killed inside the house, with doors and windows shut on a winter’s night, and then her body dumped in the garden.” The source said this pointed to the theory of a “staged burglary gone wrong” which would fit the “murder-suicide” inquiry line that previously emerged in the investigation.
According to Nicolas Rigot-Muller, the Rodez prosecutor leading the investigation, “a marital crime followed by a suicide” was likely.
The prosecutor speculated that Mr Searle may have hoped he could explain the crime to the police by organising a staged burglary before changing his mind and taking his own life. No arrests have been made in connection with the couple’s deaths, and nobody has come forward despite public appeals made by the police.
A post-mortem examination showed there were no defensive wounds on Mr Searle and forensic evidence didn’t show any suggestion that someone else was in the home. However, Mr Rigot-Muller said he had not completely ruled out “the intervention of a third party” in the deaths and the investigation “remains open”.
Jean-Sébastien Orcibal, the mayor of Les Pesquiès, said the couple “were extremely happy together”. Mr Orcibal officiated at their wedding in the hamlet in 2023. Mrs Searle was walked down the aisle by her actor son Callum Kerr.
One local who knew Dawn told The Mirror how the project manager had been in good spirits in the days before the couple’s deaths, despite having been suffering from a bout of flu. “Her mood was very good, [and she was] smiley,” the woman working at a nearby fireplace shop said.