Body of Canadian tourist found in Mexico next to his crying and shocked five-year-old son

A five-year-old Canadian boy was found crying beside the decomposing body of his father at their vacation rental just north of the Mexican resort town of Puerto Vallarta, according to reports.

The ex-wife of John Poulson, 44, raised the alarm after she was unable to get in touch with him from Canada, Mexico News Daily reported.

She contacted a neighbour who went to check on Mr Poulson at the rental in Jarretaderas, in Nayarit state, and found the boy sobbing and in shock beside his father’s body on 14 August, the news site reported.

Police told Tribuna de la Bahia that Mr Poulson the boy lying next to his father’s body in a bedroom with the lights off and air conditioning running.

Mr Poulson was in an advanced state of decomposition, police said.

According to neighbours, he had not been seen since 7 August.

Police have not yet released a cause of death.

The boy was placed in child protection services while his mother travelled to Mexico from Canada.

While there is no immediate suggestion he was the victim of foul play, the US State Department on Wednesday widened its “do not travel” warning to six of Mexico’s 31 states and urged Americans to “reconsider travel” to 11 more after a wave of orchestrated violence by criminal cartels across the country.