For Adam De Prisco, it was the trip of a lifetime.
When he and a friend went away to Acapulco for the 19-year-old's first vacation without his family, it marked a moment of independence and the kind of memories that would last a lifetime.
But that lifetime was cut short after the Woodbridge native met a sudden and tragic end in the tourist city, leaving his family angry, inconsolable and demanding answers.
Mexican authorities insist the young man was struck and killed in a hit and run car accident.
But the friend who was travelling with De Prisco tells a far different story. Marco Calabro claims his pal was murdered after dancing in a club with the girlfriend of another man.
"I was told one of the doormen asked him to leave because he was dancing with one of the local girls," outlines Sandro Bellio, the victim's uncle. "So they escorted him out and basically within a matter of a few minutes ... he was beaten brutally."
In the midst of their unbearable grief, the folks back home are suspicious of the story being offered up by the federales.
Police in Acapulco say the investigation is ongoing, but family members insist they've called Mexican and Canadian authorities dozens of times and aren't getting any answers.
"It was so bad, I don't even want people to know," Calabro shudders. "The first hour he was awake and he said his last word to me. He looked at me and I see he needed help."
No one back here accepts the official Mexican version.
"The injuries and the doctors said that it wasn't a car accident," retorts Bellio. "He had no marks on his body. All the trauma was on his face and head."
Bellio just returned from the resort trying to arrange for his nephew's return. He relates one last story about what happened after he filled out all the legal paperwork.
"Before we left even, this police officer was asking for a tip, for money, for his time," he states. "I looked at him like, you gotta be joking me."
According to Calabro, the timeline of events runs like this: the pair went to a club in the heart of the beach resort on Saturday night.
Marco found his friend later that evening after he'd already suffered his devastating injuries. (Some family members allege he was moved from the club to an alternate location to cover up what happened.)
He was in a hospital room Sunday night.
He was still alive by the time his aunt and uncle arrived in the city from Toronto on Monday.
He died later that night.
For those back home, nothing will console them except the thought that justice will one day be done.
"He was my older brother," laments Tony De Prisco, his head hung low.
"He was incredible, not because he was my brother but because he was always happy, always smiling, never angry. Worked really hard. Carried two jobs. He had many goals, very intelligent and he always got what he wanted, always."
Calabro is convinced the Mexicans are covering up the crime to protect their lucrative tourist trade.
"I feel they are," he begins, the anger obvious in his voice. "They're laughing in our face."
It's an eerie echo to the case of Domenic and Nancy Ianiero, another couple from Woodbridge.
Their bodies were found in their Mayan Riviera hotel room last February. Though there was no doubt that they'd been murdered, there were similar questions surrounding how Mexican authorities handled the case.
So far no arrests have been made in connection with their murder. And many aren't expecting any ever will.
In the meantime, the relatives in the De Prisco case are arranging for Adam's body to be flown back here.
It was supposed to happen Thursday, but there were delays. An autopsy will be performed in Toronto when he finally comes home for the last time.
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