Chile Police finds body of Canadian missing since New Year's Eve

Santiago - A Canadian citizen working for UNESCO in Santiago de Chile, who disappeared in Valparaiso on New Year's Eve, was found dead. A police investigation to determine the causes of his death is underway.

Bhupinder Mandair, 26, a Canadian citizen of Indian origin, a member of CANADEM (Canada’s Civilian Reserve), who worked as Project Assistant in the office of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Chile, was last seen at a location near the port of Valparaiso on New Year’ eve, shortly before the start of the “New Year at Sea” fireworks celebration. Police officers, staff of the PDI (Civil Investigation Police) and Chilean Navy personnel worked for three days in search of Mandair. As reported by local media (La Estrella, in Spanish), the young man had begun a year-end holiday period in the city of La Serena in northern Chile, but traveled to Valparaiso on December 31 in response to the request of a friend through Facebook who invited him to attend the traditional fireworks show which takes place during the first half hour of the new year. The young man's body was found today in a hole between two houses of “Cerro Alegre” in Valparaiso, reports La Tercera (in Spanish). The chief prosecutor of Valparaiso, a team of the Crime Laboratory of the PDI and Forensic Service staff came to the site and initiated the investigation on the circumstances and causes of Mr. Mandair’s death.