New Zealander mother-of-two's visit to boyfriend ends in Libya killing

A New Zealand woman found murdered with a British companion in Libya was a mother of two visiting her boyfriend, according to media reports Sunday.

The New Zealand foreign ministry confirmed the woman's name as Lynn Howie and said her family had requested no further details be released.

However, media reports identified the woman as a mother of two who was visiting her new boyfriend in Libya.

The British Foreign Office identified the man as Mark De Salis, an energy industry engineer who had worked in Tripoli for six years.

Their bodies were found on Thursday shot dead on a beach in Mellitah, near the city of Sabratha, west of the capital.

"An investigation by the Libyan authorities into the deaths is under way and we will be following this closely on behalf of the family," the New Zealand foreign ministry said in a statement.

"The family of Lynn Howie have requested privacy and asked that no further details be released publicly."

Media reports said Howie, 47, was a mother of two, employed as a health worker in New Zealand's capital Wellington.

"She had gone there (Libya) to visit her new partner, Mark De Salis," Fairfax Media reported quoting a friend of Howie.

"She wasn't even supposed to be there for long. She was a beautiful person, you couldn't ask for a bubblier friend. She was hard-working and just lots of fun. She lived life to the fullest, so it didn't surprise me that she was going (to Libya)."

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