Four people have been arrested after a London scientist was found dismembered in a suitcase in Colombia.
Alessandro Coatti, who worked for the prestigious Royal Society of Biology (RSB), was found by a group of children in Santa Marta in April.
The 42-year-old’s head, hands and feet were all found inside the suitcase and his torso and other parts of his body were found more than two weeks later.
Colombia’s attorney general’s office and Rome’s prosecution office have confirmed four people have been arrested, Colombian media reports.
Oswal Moisés Ospino Navarro, Isaac Enrique Márquez Charris, Andrea Camila Berdugo Escorcia and Brian Augusto Cantillo Salcedo have all been detained on suspicion of aggravated homicide.
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Local Natalia Villamizar told Metro: ‘This case has been horrendous even for a country used to violence.
‘Foreign tourists are quite safe here, no one understands what could possibly could have happened.
‘I was sure the suspects would be either be arrested or found dead.’
He was staying at a hostel in Santa Marta’s historic centre, and a post-mortem examination found he was killed by blunt-force trauma.
His mum, Sandra Lovato, sharedthe last message her son sent her on Mother’s Day.
He wrote, five days before his disappearance: ‘Hi Mum, I want to come back. I love you, so much.’
Ms Lovato wrote in one social media post: ‘I miss you so much, I can’t breathe. I miss you, I miss you so much.’
The Italian-born scientist had been a post-graduate neuroscience researcher at University College London.
He was a trained molecular biologist, and worked also as a senior science policy officer.
In October last year he spoke about his work at the RSB and his career trajectory for an Offspring Magazine podcast.
RSB said in a tribute: ‘The RSB is devastated to announce the death of former colleague Alessandro Coatti who was murdered in Colombia.
‘Alessandro, known as Ale, worked for the Royal Society of Biology for eight years as Science Policy Officer in the Science Policy team before being promoted to Senior Science Policy Officer.
‘He was a passionate and dedicated scientist, leading RSB animal science work, writing numerous submissions, organising events, and giving evidence in the House of Commons. He left the RSB at the end of 2024 to volunteer in Ecuador and travel in South America.
‘Ale was funny, warm, intelligent, loved by everyone he worked with, and will be deeply missed by all who knew and worked with him. Our thoughts and best wishes go out to his friends and family at this truly awful time.’
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