The remains of an unidentified male found in Mexico last Thursday could be that of an American man who went missing during a cross-country motorcycle ride six months ago.
Officials were responding to information from a tip in Guerrero state when they found the body and a Kawasaki motorcycle in a shallow grave some 300 miles southwest from where Harry Devert went missing, CNN reported.
The remains, which were wrapped in two plastic bags, have not been verified as Devert's, according to the state's office of public safety. But Devert's mother Ann was able to confirm the motorcycle's VIN number as her son's. New York police are currently conducting tests to identify the remains from a DNA sample Ann provided.
"She's just remaining hopeful as any mother would," Darren Del Sardo, Ann's attorney, told CNN. "One way or another, she's hoping for either closure or hoping that she's at least one step closer to finding him due to the fact the motorcycle was found."
Devert, 32, went missing in January after he quit his job in the financial sector to embark on a motorcycle journey from the U.S. to Latin America. His last communication was to his girlfriend Sarah in New York when she received a hair-raising text on Jan 25.
"Just got an hour and a half long escort out of some area it was too dangerous for me to be," Devert's text read according to CNN. "Stopping for lunch and...voila Internet...Gonna get back on the road soon.
"Apparently there's another military escort waiting for me in some other town...," the text continued. "I'm running way late because of the crazy military stuff...hopefully get a chance to talk to you tonight when I (hopefully) finally arrive."
Devert checked out of a bed and breakfast in Michoacan state and was never heard from again. After his disappearance, a friend of Ann Devert's who just returned from the same state told her of the deadly violence that erupted between locals and the Knights Templar drug cartel, CNN reported.
Mexican police said they found "10 packages of what appeared to be narcotics (marijuana and cocaine)" in addition to the motorcycle and body.
The investigation is ongoing.
