Ross Macquarrie, 38, from Mauchline in East Ayrshire, was discovered dead by housekeeping staff at his lodgings in Bogotá on November 11 last year, but his family in the UK are still fighting for answers over his remains
The family of a Scottish father who died in Colombia have been left devastated after being informed his remains “may have been buried in South America” without their knowledge.
Ross Macquarrie, 38, from Mauchline in East Ayrshire, was found dead by housekeeping staff at his accommodation in Bogotá on November 11 last year. His family have been fighting to bring his body back home to Scotland ever since.
Adding to their distress, Ross’ bereaved loved ones claim they were informed his body may have already been interred in Colombia due to insufficient space in Bogotá’s morgues. They say they are unaware of any post-mortem ever taking place.
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His ex-partner Lindsay Melvin, 44, who shares a three year old daughter Blake with him, said: “It has been over two months now and we have been fighting to get answers over Ross’ remains. When we were told that his body may have already been buried in Colombia, we were absolutely left horrified.
“The whole situation is making us ill with stress. More than two months have passed and we’ve been unable to properly say goodbye to Ross.”, reports the Daily Record.
“We can’t get closure if we don’t have his remains to give him a proper send off. We’re currently in the dark about what’s going on – if he has even been buried or not – and it is compounding our grief.
“There has been no communication with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and we’re at a loss, we don’t know what to do and we don’t know if we’ll ever get him home. We are stuck in limbo, unable to process our grief and unable to move on.”
The father-of-one had travelled to South America for a fortnight-long solo adventure on November 5. Lindsay had previously spoken to the Record about how Ross mentioned feeling unwell during a FaceTime conversation with his daughter shortly after landing.
She sounded the alarm when Ross failed to reply to text messages for multiple days. In a devastating turn of events, his partner Aga had already taken off on a flight to Colombia when the tragic news emerged. Authorities in Colombia were believed to be investigating Ross’ death.
Lindsay continued: “With no post mortem that we are aware of, we still don’t know the full details of what happened to Ross. We’re living in hell. It is one thing to lose somebody suddenly, but to be unable to properly grieve is another thing entirely. We never gave consent for his remains to be dealt with this way, it has been completely traumatising for us all.”
Those close to Ross have paid tribute to him as a “great father” who was “always so full of fun”. Lindsay stated: “Ross was an amazing, doting father. He was in contact every day with Blake. He was an absolute joker and always so full of fun. He deserves the dignity of being laid to rest by his loved ones. We want answers from Colombia and the FCDO. Without having his remains, we’ll never get to say goodbye to him.”
Local MSP Elena Whitam expressed: “My heart goes out to Ross’ family at this distressing time and I stand ready to offer any support I can. In situations like this the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office will offer immediate support and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal may become involved when there is a sudden death abroad. I will reach out to my local MP colleague to see if collectively, we can help the family.”
Scottish Labour MP Elaine Stewart commented: “This is a heartbreaking case which has caused a huge amount of distress for Ross’ family. My office and I will continue to do what we can to help bring Ross back to Scotland and give his family the closure they deserve.”
An FCDO Spokesperson declared: “We are supporting the family of a British man who has died in Colombia and are in contact with the local authorities.”
