Italian biologist Alessandro Coatti’s dismembered body reportedly found in suitcase in Colombia

The mayor of a Colombian coastal city has offered a reward worth more than $11,000 for any information that leads to an arrest after the dismembered body of an Italian biologist was discovered in a suitcase on Sunday. Friends of Alessandro Coatti, 45, reported him missing Saturday, a couple days after he arrived in Santa Marta, the Colombian newspaper El Tiempo reported.

He was staying in a hostel in the city, the newspaper said.

A head, hands and feet were found in a suitcase on the outskirts of Santa Marta on Sunday, El Tiempo reported.

The Italian national had worked as a science policy officer at the Royal Society of Biology in London, studying in the U.K. before leaving to travel and volunteer in South America last year, CBS News partner network BBC News reported.

“He was a passionate and dedicated scientist, leading RSB animal science work, writing numerous submissions, organizing events and giving evidence in the House of Commons,” the Royal Society of Biology said in a statement. “Ale was funny, warm, intelligent, loved by everyone he worked with and will be deeply missed by all who knew and worked with him.”

El Tiempo quoted a local hotel worker as saying Coatti was conducting research on local animal species and had asked about visiting the village of Minca, about six miles southeast of Santa Marta. 

Santa Marta is a popular destination for tourists, but the city of 500,000 registered 194 murders in 2024, according to The Associated Press.

Santa Marta’s Mayor Carlos Pinedo Cuello said Coatti’s killing would “not go unpunished.”

“The criminals must know that crime has no place in Santa Marta. We will pursue them until they are brought to justice,” he said in a statement on social media.

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• Colombia
• Murder