The husband of a B.C. woman who went missing in Peru three months ago has been taken into police custody in connection with the disappearance, which is now being investigated as a murder.

Originally from Abbotsford, 41-year-old Kimberlee Suzanne Kasatkin had been living in Lima with her common-law husband Christopher Franz and their two young children for nearly four years. Last November, she disappeared without a trace.

“Initially this was reported as abandonment of residence… which just means she packed up and left,” her brother Roger Grafstrom told CTV News.

“We knew on our side that wasn’t true, she’s not going to pack up and leave without her kids.”

This week, police arrested her husband in connection with her disappearance. Franz will remain in police custody while investigators wait for the results of a DNA test.

The case is now being treated as “femicide,” defined under Peruvian law as the murder of a woman.

Franz initially told a missing persons blogger that the mother of his children was depressed and wanted to leave the country. He says she took her passport, phone, credit cards and clothing but disappeared without a note.

Her parents, Kathleen and Alexander Kasatkin, said they were last in touch with Kimberlee on Nov. 26, 2016. They are currently in Lima advocating on behalf of their daughter and grandchildren.

Local law enforcements lack resources, and the family says Franz’s lawyers are putting up roadblocks.

“My parents and myself, tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, to keep an open mind,” said Grafstrom, noting there were emotionally abusive aspects of his sister’s relationship.

“There was the hope he was telling the truth, and she would show up in a couple months and we’d be angry with her, instead of not having her.”

His parents have now been in Peru for six weeks, and have delayed their flight home twice due to delays in the case.

“Our resolve is absolute, as we’ve said before, we will be staying there until this is taken care of,” Grafstrom said. “It doesn’t matter how many times we have to change the flights.”

The priority now is Kimberlee’s three-year-old daughter and six-year-old son, both Canadian citizens. The children are currently staying with Franz’s mother, but the family wants to return to Canada with both of them – and they want to know what happened to their daughter.

“It's their daughter, it's our sister, it's [the two kids] mother,” said Grafstrom. “Why aren't you making a big deal out of it? Why are you trying to play this down like it isn't something?”

With files from CTV Vancouver’s Jordana Springgay