Family fights bureaucracy after 78-year-old found dead in swamp

THE devastated family of a great-grandmother, who was found dead in a Mexican swamp, have spoken of their continuing nightmare after being denied the right to have her cremated.

The Scottish Government has told Julia Howard's family that they will not be allowed to fulfil her last wishes by having her remains cremated as there is no confirmed cause of death. Instead, Mrs Howard will have to be buried.

Her daughter, Julia Brock, 55, today vowed to continue the fight to find the truth about how she died.

A Scottish Government spokesman has reportedly said the cremation was refused because Scottish law requires the death certificate to state the cause of death before a cremation can take place.

But Mrs Brock said: "We don't understand why we can't do it. There must have been other families who have been able to cremate their relative when the cause of death is unknown. It's just the indignity at the end – it was her last request to be cremated. It's been one thing after another."

Mrs Brock, who lives in Firrhill, said the family are convinced the 78-year-old was murdered and their investigation will continue after her funeral.

Mrs Howard, who lived in Roseburn, vanished without a trace from a secure luxury holiday resort in Mexico on 16 June – just 12 hours after arriving – while on a two-week holiday with daughter Julia, son Henry Harvey, 56, and his wife Glynnis, 55.

She told her family, who were sunbathing by the pool, that she was going to fetch her sun hat and then go for a walk.

But the great-grandmother-of-seven never completed the 35-yard walk to her room and, according to security staff at the Moon Palace Golf & Spa Resort in Cancun, there was no record of her having left the hotel. Her remains were found more than five weeks later in a mangrove swamp situated around three miles from the Moon Palace.

A private post-mortem paid for by Julia's family has not revealed the cause of the widow's death. But Mrs Brock said: "It's not over for us. If nothing else, I will keep pushing the Mexican authorities to find out what happened."

The heartbroken family are currently waiting on the results of a Mexican police report, as well as a medical report from the Foreign Office.

The family, along with Mrs Brock's other brother Ron, returned to Mexico after Mrs Howard's body was found.

They were taken to the spot where her body was discovered and shown photographs of the remains.

Mrs Brock said: "We found it extremely difficult to get to the spot and we had to be given a lift back. We were all virtually near collapsing, it was very hard work walking on the sand for a mile and a half in that kind of heat. There's just no way that my mum could have done that.

"The family is very sure that somebody killed her and put her there.

"The Mexican police have said unofficially that they are of the opinion that somebody else was involved because a lady of that age with two replacement hips could not have walked to where she was found."

The Mexican police have told the family that they will continue with their investigation, but Mrs Brock said she has heard nothing since returning to Edinburgh from Mexico over a fortnight ago.