Byron Haddow death: Three Aussies sought by Bali police for questioning
The shattered parents of a Noosa man found dead in a Bali pool have spoken as Indonesian police look to interview three Aussies who had partied with the 23-year-old.
The parents of Noosa FIFO worker Byron Haddow are enduring another gruelling wait in the investigation into their son’s Bali death, hoping they will finally get some answers.
It comes after it was revealed Indonesian authorities were hoping to speak with three Australians who were partying with the 23-year-old before his tragic death.
Byron’s parents, Robert and Chantal Haddow, who just last week revealed their son’s body had been returned to Australia missing his heart, told this publication they hoped the Bali police would be able to question the trio soon.
“Those three Australian witnesses kind of hold the key to more information on what actually happened,” Ms Haddow said on Saturday.
“At the end of the day they were the three last people to see our son alive,” Mr Haddow added.
“We just want answers, nothing adds up.”
Byron was found unresponsive in the pool of his Bali villa in May this year in circumstances his family believe are suspicious.
News.com.au reported on Saturday the three Australians police wished to speak to were with the 23-year-old the night before he died.
The trio left Indonesia before police were able to speak with them about the incident, which is being investigated by the Coroners Court of Queensland and the Australian Federal Police.
According to News.com.au, Byron and an acquaintance from Melbourne met two Australian women while out partying during what was intended to be a 10-day holiday.
The group ultimately ended up back at the two-bedroom villa, with the autopsy later revealing Byron consumed a large amount of alcohol and an antidepressant.
Byron was then found the next morning floating in the pool with cuts, bruises and a bloody nose.
“I wasn’t able to conclude whether it was an accident, suicide or homicide,” the coroner in Bali told news.com.au.
The trio has since been interviewed by the AFP, while Balinese police await statements from the Australian Consulate.
It is not suggested the three people were involved Byron’s death or committed any crime.
A friend of Byron’s, Quinton Ruke, who introduced him to the acquaintance, told News.com.au the acquaintance called him to say, “Byron’s gone”.
“I said, ‘What do you mean he’s gone?’. Then (he) said he woke up from his sleep and couldn’t find Byron anywhere, went searching around the villa, then went out to the pool and found Byron lying at the bottom of the pool, all yellow-looking and bleeding from the nose. He said he then jumped in to retrieve Byron and got the two girls that were there to hold Byron up on the side of the pool while he ran to the local medic or shop to get some help,” he said.
The Haddow family’s lawyer, Ni Luh Arie Ratna Sukasari, told media in a statement there was a suspicion Byron’s death was “unnatural”.
The latest development in the investigation into Byron’s death comes after his family were shocked to learn his body had been sent home ahead of the funeral without his heart.
The missing organ was discovered during a second autopsy performed in Australia, with the family later being informed it was standard practice in Indonesia.
Ms Haddow previously told this publication police in Bali were not informed of her son’s death for four days.
“By that time the villa had been thoroughly cleaned and any evidence that might have been there was cleaned away,” she said.
