The body of a New York man who disappeared in Mexico while riding his motorcycle through Latin America has been found, according to a report from the Associated Press.

Mexican officials said Thursday that genetic testing proved that the human remains found near in the Guerrero state in Mexico belonged to 32-year-old Harry Devert, a stock trader from Pelham, New York. CNN reported that Devert's remains were found in two plastic bags.

Devert told a friend he was leaving Mexican state Michoacan traveling toward Zihuatanejo on the Pacific coast, which takes a route heavily affected by cartel violence. His remains were found some 300 miles from where he was believed to be.

Jose Villanueva, spokesman for the government of the Guerrero state, said that the state had given the case to federal prosecutors, which could indicate that the Mexican government suspects organized crime played a part in Devert's death.

Devert's girlfriend was the last to hear from him; he had sent her a message on the WhatsApp social media application.

"Just got an hour-and-a-half-long escort out of some area it was too dangerous for me to be," the message said. "Stopping for lunch and ... voila Internet. ... 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."

Mexican authorities said Devert's motorcycle was found on a road to La Majahua beach in the Guerrero state and that 10 packages of what appeared to be narcotics were found near the bike and remains.

Devert was not new to traveling and had been around much of the world, according to his travel blog, A New Yorker Travels.

"I've been chased with a gun in Colombia, chipped my tooth on a gun that was shoved in my mouth in Venezuela and shot everything from a bazooka to a machine gun, an M16 to a Colt .45," Devert wrote in his blog, according to CNN. "I've been in some of the poorest and some of the most dangerous parts of the world and to many of the finest, and I still can't tell which I liked more. I think that life is a pilgrimage."

Related