In Colombia, a suitcase with the dismembered body of a leading scientist, Alessandro Coatti, was found. He worked at the Royal Biological Society in Great Britain and came to the Caribbean city for a vacation. The city authorities offered 10,000 pounds for information that would help find the killer. This is reported by UNN with reference to Dailymail.
Details
The scientist arrived in Santa Marta, the first Spanish settlement in Colombia, on Thursday - the day before he disappeared. Police said that Coatti had no criminal connections or suspicious contacts.
However, on Sunday, a group of children found a suitcase with his remains near the road leading to the football stadium. The suitcase contained the scientist's head and limbs. His torso and other body parts are still being searched for by the police. Coatti was identified by the hotel bracelet on one of the found parts of his body.
An employee of the hotel where the scientist stayed said that Coatti had asked several times about routes to Minka, which is a 45-minute drive from Santa Marta.
Minka is the "ecological capital" of the Sierra Nevada mountains with jungles and waterfalls. Initially, Minka was a guerrilla territory closed to everyone except locals. However, recently, after a ceasefire by paramilitary and guerrilla groups, Minka has become open to visitors. However, some travelers are still afraid to go there.
Reaction of the city authorities where the body was found
Colombian media reported that at this time, a paramilitary group known locally as Autodefensas Conquistadores de la Sierra Nevada was operating in Santa Marta.
The organization, which is financed by drug trafficking and extortion, suspended peace talks with the Colombian government on the very day the British scientist was last seen. However, there is currently no evidence that the criminal group is connected to Coatti's disappearance and murder.
The mayor of Santa Marta, Carlos Pinedo Cuello, offered a reward of 10,000 pounds for information that would help arrest those responsible for Alessandro's murder.
We are offering a reward of fifty million Colombian pesos for information that will allow us to identify and catch the perpetrators. I have instructed the authorities to join forces to investigate the death of Italian citizen Alessandro Coatti
What Alessandro Coati did
42-year-old molecular biologist Alessandro worked at the Royal Biological Society since April 2017. For the past six years, he has been a Senior Science Policy Officer, according to his LinkedIn page.
Prior to joining the professional association, the Italian-born scientist was a postgraduate student in neuroscience at University College London.
In his social media, Alessandro Coatti described himself as a "purposeful and enthusiastic senior professional with over seven years of experience in influencing public policy through science", as well as a "big picture thinker and creative problem solver".