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Westchester Man Goes Missing In Mexico While Searching For <em>Shawshank</em> Beach
By
Ben Yakas
Published Feb 9, 2014
Modified Feb 9, 2014
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Feb 9, 2014
Modified Feb 9, 2014
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A Westchester man has gone missing in Mexico while on a motorcycling trip of the country. Pelham High School grad Harry Devert, 32, quit his finance job to travel the world last year. But he hasn't been heard of since January 25th; he had told friends that he was headed to Zihuatanejo, specifically to the beach that featured prominently in the climax of the film The Shawshank Redemption. Now his friends and family have launched a social media campaign to try to find him.
"Just got an hour and a half long escort out of some area it was too dangerous for me to be. Stopping for lunch and ... voila Internet," he wrote in his last correspondence to his girlfriend, Sarah Schiear, via WhatsApp, on Jan. 25th. "Gonna get back on the road soon. Apparently there's another military escort waiting for me in some other town...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, who left Westchester for his trip in December, planned to travel through Mexico down to South America. He last checked in at Uriangato, Mexico, on his Instagram account. "My son is a great communicator and he always lets me know—because I'm anxious—as close as he can where he's going to be or if he's going to be out of touch," his mother, Ann Devert, told CNN. She became especially worried when he didn't call her on January 29th, his late father's birthday: "And when he didn't, I felt a misgiving but I thought maybe it would take a couple of days," she said. "He didn't call."
Devert hoped to write a book about his experiences traveling around Latin America, and make a career out of his travels, according to his mother. "He always tells me, 'I take risks but I'm not an idiot,' " she added.
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mexico
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shawshank redemption
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Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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