Remains Found in Mexico Could Be Missing American Traveler

ByGILLIAN MOHNEY ABCNews logo
Sunday, July 13, 2014

Authorities in Mexico are investigating whether human remains found in a remote area of Mexico could be the body of an American traveler who has been missing since January.

Harry Devert started a lengthy road trip on a motorcycle last fall that would take him across the U.S. and through parts of Central and South America. Devert, 32 when he disappeared, had planned to end the trip at the World Cup in Brazil.

However, his family has not spoken to him since mid-January.

On Saturday, his family confirmed that Devert's motorcycle had been found near a road in Mexico and that human remains in plastic bags had been buried nearby.

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Darren Del Sardo, the lawyer for Devert's mother Ann Devert, told ABC News the body has not been confirmed as Devert's. Del Sardo said that Ann Devert, of Pelham, N.Y., has gone to Mexico to try and expedite the process to confirm the body's identity through DNA verification.

"She's remaining optimistic and ... she's doing the best she possibly could do in this very trying time," Del Sardo told ABC News of Ann Devert. "There's still many questions unanswered. She's trying to act on a serious lead, wherein [his] motorcycle was found, or to get some sort of closure if in fact the remains are Harry's."

On the Facebook page dedicated to spreading news of Devert's disappearance, numerous friends wrote remembrances of Devert, who was an avid traveler.

Jacke Burrell, a family friend, has helped update the Facebook page and said Devert had spent the last two years largely traveling around the globe. She said at the end of this roadtrip through Central and South America, Devert had planned to take a break.

"It's so ironic that the [World] Cup finals are tomorrow ... he was going to go to the cup and then he was going to come home and start his book on his travels," Burell told ABC News.

On the Facebook page a friend asked those who knew the 32-year-old to post some of their favorite memories.

"Harry loved all people of this wonderful world, we need to keep this going......for Harry," read the post.

Devert documented his many travels on a website titled A New Yorker Travels.

"I believe life is short and that we need to make the most of it, and while many people say this, I truly try and live my life accordingly," Devert wrote on the website.

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