The body of Francesca Matus, an Ontario woman missing in Belize, has been found along with that of her American boyfriend, Drew De Voursney, CBC Toronto has learned.

Police in the town of Corozal said the bodies were found at 7 p.m. ET. in a sugarcane field.

The discovery comes just one day after Matus's vehicle was found abandoned, also in a sugarcane field, in the small Central American country near the village of Paraiso.

Nancy Rifenbark, a close friend of Matus's, also confirmed the news, which was circulating in local media reports Monday night.

"They found them ... they are dead," Rifenbark said Monday evening.

Police said an autopsy will be performed Tuesday morning.

The Corozal Police Department found Francesca Matus's white Izuzu SUV on Sunday afternoon in a sugarcane field. (Channel 7 Belize)

Officers in Belize discovered the vehicle on Sunday and returned to the scene Monday with police dogs to continue the search.

The vehicle was the first sign of Matus, 52, and De Voursney, 36, since they disappeared under mysterious circumstances last Tuesday night.

Friends said the couple were last seen leaving a bar near Matus's home in the coastal town of Corozal, about 130 kilometres north of the capital, Belmopan.

'Well-liked' pair, say friends

Matus, a mother of two, was scheduled to fly back to Canada on April 26, but when a friend went to her home in Belize to drive her to the airport, she was nowhere to be found.

"When I arrived there to pick her up, the gate was closed and the car was gone," Joe Milholen told CBC Toronto on Saturday.

As the search for the pair ensued, friends posted prayers and wishes to Matus's Facebook page, hoping she would be found safe.

Rifenbark previously described Matus and De Voursney as "well-liked," saying the pair had many local friends.