‘I feel like there was foul play’: Qld man’s body returned from Bali with heart missing

The body of a young Queensland man who mysteriously died in Bali was returned to Australia without his heart, leaving his family desperate for answers and raising concerns about the integrity of Indonesia’s repatriation processes.

Byron Haddow, 23, was found dead in the plunge pool of his Bali villa on May 26.

The FIFO worker from Noosa, on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, had been on holiday in the Indonesian province after a long stint of work.

His body was returned to Queensland nearly four weeks after it was found.

His family’s push for a thorough investigation into his death had led in part to the delay in repatriating his remains.

But the removal of his heart was only discovered by chance when a second autopsy was conducted in Brisbane.

Two days before his funeral, Haddow’s family was told by the Queensland Coroner’s office that the young man’s heart had been removed from his body during an autopsy in Indonesia and left behind.

“They just rung [sic] us to ask if we were aware that his heart had been retained over in Bali,” his distraught mother, Chantal Haddow, told Nine News.

“Just when I thought I couldn’t feel any more heartbroken, it was another kick in the guts.”

Ms Haddow was still searching for answers over what happened to her son, telling Nine News she suspected foul play.

“When the police [officer] came here to deliver the news, he just said, you know, he was found in the pool. Call it mother’s instinct, but I was just not having a bar of that.

“I feel like there was foul play. I think that something’s happened to him prior to being in the pool.”

But the forensic doctor who performed the original autopsy at Bali’s Sanglah Hospital, Dr Nola Margaret Gunawan, refuted claims of wrongdoing.

This masthead was told it was not uncommon in Indonesia for organs to be kept by the coroner for more testing.

“For forensic purposes, his heart was tested and was kept behind when the family repatriated the body home,” Gunawan told this masthead.

“I have given the autopsy result and explanation to the family. They have accepted my explanation.”

Indonesian police were not alerted to the death until four days after Haddow’s body was found, by which time the scene had been contaminated, News Corp reported.

Unexplained cuts and bruises were allegedly found on his body.

Ms Haddow described her son as a “generous, kind-hearted, hard-working young fellow” who was “just so full of life”.

Haddow’s heart was only sent back to Australia after his funeral and burial.

“It did eventually come back,” Ms Haddow said.

“When we were informed, it was literally two days before his funeral, so there wasn’t an opportunity to put a hold on [the event].”

Forensic anthropologist and criminologist Dr Xanthe Mallett told Nine News organs were removed from a body, weighed and dissected during a forensic autopsy, but under standard practices, they were returned to the body.

The Haddow family is now awaiting the results of the Brisbane autopsy.

“It is a long ... dragged-out process. I believe there are some issues with the lab in Queensland,” Ms Haddow said.

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