Liam Payne’s body to remain in Argentina for further investigations
Liam Payne’s body will remain in Argentina as additional investigations take place.
The troubled One Direction crooner, 31, last week fatally fell from a balcony at the Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires.
He died instantly of massive internal and external injuries and had a toxic mixture of drugs in his system at the time of his death.
His distraught father, Geoff Payne, has been warned he could have to wait for up to ten days to get permission to take his son’s body home.
Geoff, 66, has since vowed to remain with him until he is able to return to the UK.
After arriving at the scene of his son’s death last week, Geoff had to formally identify Liam at the morgue.
The pop star’s body is currently being held there while the Argentine Ministry of Justice officials continues investigations.
The father of three, who shared Liam and his sisters, Ruth Gibbins and Nicola Payne, with his wife Karen, also visited the hotel where his son died and thanked fans for their heartfelt tributes.
A source close to Geoff said he’s understandably finding the situation “really tough” and is left “heartbroken” by the news.
“But he has vowed to do right by Liam and will not go home without him,” a friend told the Daily Mail.
“It is the uncertainty of not knowing when this ordeal will be over is what he is finding very difficult to deal with. The Argentine officials say they expect the results to take ten days, but it might be a lot less time than that.”
Meanwhile, a source close to the investigation said, “Detectives have all the footage now from Liam’s entire stay — from the moment he checked in to the hours after he died.”
“Police are determined to trace everyone and have also been given a list of all guests as well as visitors. In addition, they have a full list of employees,” they added.
Earlier this week, a preliminary autopsy report from the Argentinian Public Prosecutor’s Office found that Payne died of “multiple traumas” and “internal and external bleeding.”
In addition to the pink cocaine, also called Tusi — a combination of methamphetamine, ketamine and ecstasy — the drugs detected in his bloodstream through toxicology screening included benzodiazepine, crack, and cocaine.
A makeshift aluminum pipe for ingesting the substances was also found nearby, ABC News reported.
Witnesses also said Payne was acting erratically in the hours before his death.
A frantic hotel manager called police in Buenos Aires shortly before his death, alerting them that someone under the influence of drugs and alcohol was trashing the room and potentially endangering his life.
