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Man who died in Mexico returned to family ‘without brain, stomach and heart’

Thirty-five-year-old's widow, who claims he was involved in a fight shortly before his death, calls for another post-mortem

Chiara Giordano
Thursday 31 January 2019 17:33 GMT
(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The body of a man who died in Mexico is said to have been returned to his family in South Korea without his brain, stomach or heart.

Authorities in the country have claimed the 35-year-old South Korean national, whose identity was only given as the surname Kim, died of natural causes on 3 January, The Korean Times reported.

However his widow claimed the father-of-two was involved in a fight at a karaoke bar in Monterrey before his death and said she feared there may have been a different cause of death.

According to KBS World Radio, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in South Korea said it had asked Mexican authorities to return the missing organs.

Mr Kim’s wife launched a petition on the website of the South Korea presidential office, Cheong Wa Dae, calling for the body parts to be returned so another post-mortem examination could be carried out.

It came after a post-mortem performed by the National Forensic Service in South Korea was unable to determine a cause of death, having only found bruising on the body.

According to Mr Kim’s widow, he fell unconscious and was taken to hospital following a fight at a Monterrey karaoke on 3 January, which was allegedly caught on CCTV.

She wrote on the Cheong Wa Dae website that a forensic scientist had told her there were signs of external injuries on her husband’s body, including many bruises, but that there was no brain or stomach.

The widow claimed Mexican police were not investigating her husband’s death because he was found to have died of natural causes.

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Last month, The Sunday People reported British tourist Amanda Gill’s body was returned to her family with no eyes, heart or brain after she died in a hospital in Mexico.

The family of the 41-year-old barmaid and waitress, from Shipley, in West Yorkshire, said they feared organ traffickers were to blame after she was reportedly returned home with all of her vital parts missing apart from her lower bowel.

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