Two Quebecers killed in Mexico | “Fannie was in the wrong place at the wrong time”

The family of Fannie Lorrain, this 38-year-old woman murdered in the company of Raphaël Huppé on Monday in Mexico, affirms that it was to watch over her sick friend that she was in the latter’s apartment during the tragedy and that it has nothing to do with any fraudulent activity.

Daniel Renaud
The Press

“My cousin would never have embarked on schemes, she was not a person like that”, assures Romie Lorrain.

Fannie’s mother, Linda Bédard, and she agreed to meet The Press Thursday, to talk about the young woman and explain the reasons why she was in Huppé’s accommodation, a friend and not her spouse, contrary to what the Mexican authorities initially announced.

Raphaël Huppé was accused of fraud in Quebec and had been in Mexico since 2016, presumably to flee Canadian justice.

A settling of accounts due to possible fraud or theft would be the two main hypotheses currently used by the Mexican police.

“Sunday, a few hours before her death, I spoke to Fannie on the telephone. She told me she was spending the night with Raphaël, because he had a fever, that she would monitor his temperature and that she was afraid that he was suffering from appendicitis. She said to me: “He’s a guy, he doesn’t want to go to the hospital and in Mexico, everything goes slow on weekends in the hospitals.” She also told me that the next day she would take him to the hospital. But she was killed. She ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Ms.^me Bedard.

Established in Mexico

The two women do not know how Fannie Lorrain met Raphaël Huppé, at least a year ago. She very rarely told them about him and never thought he might have been targeted or threatened, they believe.

“If he had been her spouse, she would have told us,” assure Fannie Lorrain’s mother and cousin.

The young woman, who had been living in Mexico for a few years, apart from some brief stays in Quebec, had her own apartment in Playa del Carmen.

Fannie Lorrain, who spoke French, English, Spanish and Portuguese, worked in customer service at a local dietary supplement and protein company to pay for her housing and other expenses, in addition to being involved with Alcoholics Anonymous .

The young woman, who has already lived in Cancún, planned to return to live in this city. She was about to buy a plane ticket to return to Quebec in a few weeks, in anticipation of an upcoming birth.

It rings the doorbell

It was two police officers from the Sûreté du Québec who rang the doorbell of Mr.^me Bédard on Tuesday and who told him of the death of his daughter. “They were very respectful. They told me it was considered a suspicious death, ”she describes.

It was only the next day, through the media, that she learned that her daughter had been the victim of a murder.

The life of Fannie Lorrain, who grew up in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, was marked by community involvement and international cooperation.

She has helped hundreds of people, in Quebec or elsewhere in the world, according to her family, whether in a youth center, at Club 2/3 or at the Mer et Monde organization in Montreal, to name only those -the.

“She was always ready to help and always saw the good in people. She was a spiritual girl with a missionary soul. She was a unifier. Always respectful, she loved people, trusted them and gave them a chance,” say her mother and cousin.

“She was luminous and she was a little gem. She was always cheerful, dynamic, full of life and very committed. She fought injustice and championed social causes. I am in shock. I have a lot of pain, ”reacts for her part Mireille Chilloux, from the organization of initiation to international cooperation Mer et Monde, where Fannie Lorrain worked around 2012.

“It’s half of my life that has just left. It’s not easy to live with,” concludes Linda Bédard, sobbing.

To reach Daniel Renaud, dial 514 285-7000, ext. 4918, write to [email protected] or write to the postal address of The Press.