Relatives of the UK scientist found dismembered in Colombia fear he may have been murdered by organ traffickers.
Alessandro Coatti’s remains have been found scattered around a town in Colombia, with his torso found miles away from his dismembered legs, head, hands and feet.
The discovery in the Colombian port city of Santa Marta has left police and his family in Italy in shock.
Police are still scrambling to understand how the London-based 38-year-old was killed on a trip to the South American country, just days before he was due to return.
Mr Coatti’s family fear he may have been killed by organ traffickers.
‘Alessandro didn’t have any enemies; he was a quiet person,’ said his uncle, Giovanni Coatti.
‘The theory of a robbery doesn’t convince me; he didn’t have anything of value. What’s really troubling us is another possibility, that of organ trafficking.
‘When you see how his body was found, in pieces, without the chest. It’s something horrible to even say but at this point nothing has been ruled out.’
Mr Coatti’s head, hands and feet were found in a suitcase near the Sierra Nevada stadium on April 6, two days after he was last seen leaving his hotel by the coast.
His torso and other body parts were then found near the Minuto de Dios bridge a day later, before his legs were found in a coffee sack near the stadium on Tuesday.
The remains of Alessandro Coatti (pictured), 42, were found across Santa Marta, a port city on Colombia’s Caribbean coast
Mr Coatti, originally from Longastrino, Ravenna, was visiting the country in the hopes of one day moving there.
‘He wanted to go and live in South America so he went for a trip to see; he was supposed to be back next week,’ his uncle shared.
The molecular biologist had left the Royal Society of Biology in 2024 to volunteer in Ecuador and travel to South America.
While in Colombia, he had asked about the local area, showing interest in learning about the local fauna and vegetation, Agenzia Nova reports.
Investigators believe he had taken the evening of April 4 to go to a local club before vanishing.
They are still working to understand whether or not he ever arrived, scouring CCTV and phone records.
According to his uncle, he would not have been an obvious target for thieves.
‘He never had much money in his pockets, or a watch or other precious objects,’ he said.
‘All he had was a new mobile phone to take pictures but even that was a cheap one.’
A parallel investigation has also been opened in Italy and his parents have handed over devices containing his last messages.
Officers are also expected to travel to Colombia to assist in their probe.
Alessandro Coatti’s head, hands and feet were found in a black suitcase while other parts were discovered wrapped in a bin bag floating in a river (Pictured: police investigating)
Coatti (left) was among Royal Society of Biology representatives who appeared before Parliament in June 2022
Police at the scene where Coatti’s body was found
Local human rights activist Norma Vera Salazar said there have been 13 similar murders in the region in the last year.
This is the first time the victim is a foreign tourist.
The country, long riddled with paramilitary violence and cartel feuds, remains dangerous for tourists, and the FCDO advises against all but essential travel to the Colombia-Venezuela border and northern Colombia.
Salazar warned of a ‘pattern’ in recent murders where people have been found dismembered and ‘stuffed into garbage bags or coffee sacks and abandoned’.
‘These types of homicides are used by vigilante groups to send warning messages, instill fear, and mark their territory.’
‘Usually this is a way to send a message,’ Victor Polo, a journalist for Santa Marta’s Caracol Radio, echoed.
One avenue under consideration by investigators is that Mr Coatti was mistakenly identified, Corriere reports.
Drug cartels may have killed Mr Coatti under the impression he was someone else while trying to settle a score.
The Clan del Golfo and Autodefensas Conquistadores de la Sierra paramilitary groups are understood to be active in the area.
Coatti, who worked for the Royal Society of Biology, left London at the end of 2024 to volunteer in Ecuador and travel in South America
The mayor of Santa Marta (pictured), Carlos Pinedo Cuello, said authorities had offered a reward of nearly £9,000 for information that leads to the capture of those responsible
Mr Coatti graduated from university in Pisa and then studied for a master’s course at UCL in the Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology.
He went on to work for the Royal Society of Biology as a science policy officer.
Colleagues described him as ‘a passionate and dedicated scientist, who led the organisation’s work on animal science, writing numerous papers and organising events and presentations’ in parliament.
The RSB said in a statement: ‘Ale was funny, warm, intelligent, loved by all he worked with and will be deeply missed by all who knew and worked with him.
‘Our thoughts are with his friends and family at this truly terrible time.’
