A 52-year-old Canadian woman who sold her house to start a new life in Cuba with her musician boyfriend who is 13 years her junior has been found dead in a suitcase in a garbage tip.

Nathalie Fraser, who originally came from the Canadian city of Montreal, was reported missing on January 18, according to her relatives.

She had moved to Cuba in December last year where she lived with her boyfriend, identified as 39-year-old musician Leonel Leon Nuviola, in the western Cuban province of Matanzas.

Nathalie Fraser and her boyfriend Leonel Leon Nuviola. She was found dead in a travel suitcase dumped on landfill in Cuban city of Matanzas

Nathalie Fraser (left and right) sold her house in Canada to move to Cuba with her 39-year-old boyfriend

According to local media, her body was found in a travel suitcase dumped in a garbage tip and her Cuban boyfriend has been arrested in connection with her death.

Fraser was found in Matanzas, not far from the holiday hotspot of Varadero, which is popular with many Western tourists.

Fraser's sister told local media: 'We learned it was a violent murder, that she suffered a lot. Her body was found inside a suitcase on a garbage site.'

Melanie Fraser, the victim's daughter, said on a Canadian radio station that the couple appeared were very much in love.

She added: 'She put her house up for sale and left with almost nothing to live there with him, with the eventual goal of getting married.'

Suspect Leonel Leon Nuviola was arrested after the body of his 52-year-old girlfriend was found dumped in landfill

Leonel Leon Nuviola with Fraser on a beach in Cuba. The couple were said to have met around a year-and-a-half ago

But her other daughter, Marie-Eve Fraser, said she feared the worst when she was told by Interpol that her mother had been missing for 48 hours.

She told French language newspaper, La Presse: "I felt there was something serious.

'When I went to see them in Cuba, I found him to be possessive, impulsive and controlling. My mother said it was because he was nervous to meet me.'

The couple were said to have met around a year-and-a-half ago.

Family members also complained about the lack of information from the Cuban authorities regarding the case.

Fraser's family also claimed to have tried to contact Nuviola and his family, without success, despite previous good communication.

According to local reports her boyfriend is currently considered the main suspect.

The police investigation is ongoing, according to reports.