Repatriation in the wake of a murder overseas

Receiving the devastating news that your loved one has passed away whilst travelling abroad is traumatic, but finding out that your loved one was found dead in their hotel room with penetrating stab wounds to the chest opens an extra layer of grief, anxiety, denial, questions, and extreme emotional trauma. This type of death requires an immediate investigation and murder enquiry, and the timeline for repatriation is longer than normal. A local post-mortem takes place, evidence at the scene is gathered, personal items are examined and taken into custody, personal statements are taken from any potential witnesses, and the deceased person is not released until the forensic medical teams and police have everything they need as part of the investigation.

The wait for the family is painful, and the job of the repatriation specialist is more intense than normal

The wait for the family is painful, and the job of the repatriation specialist is more intense than normal as they are supporting the family through the most difficult circumstances and the first stages of grief in the most horrific situation. This is the type of case no family would ever wish to be part of, with so many unanswered questions surrounding what happened and why.

A difficult case in the Gambia

Rowland Brothers International recently handled such a case in Banjul, the Gambia.

Whilst waiting for the local authorities to complete their investigations and formalities, our team – along with our overseas funeral agent – started work on gathering all of the information required from the family to complete paperwork formalities and planning the logistics for the repatriation back to the UK. No formal confirmed arrangements could be put in place until the deceased was released and authorisation to take them out of the country was issued by the local authorities.

The timeline was lengthy – far beyond the normal average. 

Daily updates were provided to the family – even if there was no added news from the previous day. Additionally, there was hand-holding and supporting every step of the way, with the aim of setting realistic expectations.

Repatriation approved

Once the authority was released, allowing repatriation to take place, our team worked with our overseas funeral agent to obtain the necessary permits, documentation and authorisation from the British Embassy to repatriate back to the UK.

No direct flights were available – so arrangements were made for the deceased to travel from Banjul, the Gambia, to Brussels, Belgium, connecting with a flight to London Heathrow, UK.

A second post-mortem

Once UK customs officials had cleared the deceased, our private ambulance team collected from the airport and delivered to the receiving family-appointed funeral directors. Due to the circumstances of the death, a further post-mortem was done by the UK coroner, prolonging the timeline even longer before the family could go ahead with local final resting funeral arrangements.

The deceased’s personal effects were not released at the same time as the deceased. Once the police authorities released these, our team arranged their repatriation, collection and delivery directly to the family in the UK.

A grateful family

Managing this type of case requires a huge amount of patience, understanding, sympathy and empathy from our team towards the family to aid them every step of the way – something that is not an easy task when emotions are running high, and family members are at different stages of their grief process.

Managing this type of case requires a huge amount of patience, understanding, sympathy and empathy

The lovely words of appreciation from the family for all the hard work, as well as the updates our team did throughout this case, are invaluable. They are a constant reminder why we have chosen this line of work, and that we have found our vocation in life.