A 42-year-old Italian researcher, Alessandro Coatti, was killed and dismembered in Colombia. The Italian embassy in Bogota confirmed.
The details communicated about the crime are horrifying: the man's head and arms were found in a suitcase near the stadium in the town of Santa Marta. The police traced Coatti's identity thanks to a hotel bracelet he was wearing on his wrist. Other pieces of the researcher's body, who also collaborated with the Royal Society of Biology in London, were found in another area of the city.
According to initial reconstructions, the man had gone out to a nightclub on Saturday night and never returned.
Carlos Pinedo Cuello, mayor of the city of Santa Marta, where the murder took place, offered 10,000 euros (50 million pesos) for information that would allow the identification and arrest of those responsible for the murder of the Italian . Coatti, a biologist, was in the South American country for tourism. "This crime will not go unpunished. Criminals must know that in Santa Marta, crime has no place. We will pursue them until they are brought to justice," the mayor wrote on Facebook.
The Royal Society of Biology on its website expressed "deep sorrow at the death of former colleague Alessandro Coatti, murdered in Colombia."
“Alessandro, known as Ale, worked for the Royal Society of Biology for eight years as a Science Policy Officer in the Science Policy team before being promoted to Senior Science Policy Officer. He was a passionate and dedicated scientist, leading the RSB’s animal science work , writing numerous proposals, organising events and providing evidence to the House of Commons. He left the RSB at the end of 2024 to volunteer in Ecuador and travel in South America,” the RSB message concluded.
(Unioneonline/lf)