Quebec animation pioneer found dead on Caribbean island

SAN JUAN

Quebec 3D animation pioneer Daniel Langlois has died with his partner in a car accident on the Caribbean island of Dominica, under suspicious circumstances, the artist's former publicist said on Sunday.

"Three people have been arrested and an investigation is underway" on the eastern Caribbean island, where Langlois and partner Dominique Marchand ran a luxury hotel, Sylvie Deslauriers told AFP in an email.

Langlois had been reported missing for several days. Police said Saturday that the couple were identified as the occupants of a vehicle found burnt a day earlier near the town of Gallion, in the south of the small island, local media reported.

Canada's Global Affairs department said it was "aware of the presumed death of two Canadian citizens in Dominica", without confirming their identities.

"Our hearts go out to the families and loved ones of the citizens concerned" and our agents are "in contact with local authorities to obtain additional information", added department spokeswoman Marilyne Guevremont.

The government of Dominica asked for assistance from Canadian authorities on Monday in the investigation into the grisly death on the Caribbean island of businessman.

Minister for National Security Rayburn Blackmoore said police were treating the deaths as "potential homicides."

The couple were allegedly ambushed along the road and shot before the car plunged into the ravine and caught fire, police told AFP.

Among the four arrested was American businessman Jonathan Lehrer, who lived near the couple and had been embroiled with Langlois in a neighborhood dispute for years, a police source said.

Two other foreigners and a Dominican national have also been arrested.

"This type of terrible crime and the brutality in this crime is something we cannot ignore, and we cannot allow those responsible to go unpunished," Blackmoore said.

A request has been made for "investigative support from the Canadian authorities," he said.

Langlois made a fortune with Softimage, a 3D animation firm that produced software used in Hollywood blockbusters like "Jurassic Park," "Titanic," "The Matrix," and the "Harry Potter" and "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchises.

After founding the firm in 1986, Langlois sold the company to Microsoft in 1994 but stayed on as president until 1998, according to his foundation's website.

In 1997, Langlois received a Scientific and Technical Oscar from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the website said.

"His legacy reflects his innovative spirit," said Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge on social media platform X, calling the Quebecer "a visionary in digital technologies and cinema."

In recent years, Langlois and his partner created a luxury hotel in Dominica, where the government recently awarded him a prize for his contribution to the island's development.