Overview

• Alessandro Coatti, a 42-year-old molecular biologist and former senior policy officer at the Royal Society of Biology, was found dismembered in Santa Marta, Colombia.
• Key body parts, including his head, hands, and feet, were recovered from a suitcase in a stream, while police continue to search for his torso.
• Coatti had recently left his position at the Royal Society of Biology to volunteer in Ecuador and travel through South America, arriving in Santa Marta on April 3.
• Santa Marta’s mayor, Carlos Pinedo Cuello, has offered a reward of fifty million Colombian pesos for information leading to the arrest of those responsible.
• Local police confirmed Coatti had no criminal record or suspicious connections, and investigations are ongoing to bring the perpetrators to justice.