Officials in Peru have provided a devastating update on the Hannah Almond missing person case, revealing the elderly homeless man who supported her has sadly died
A homeless man who became friends with rescued backpacker Hannah Almond has tragically died just days after being placed into a charity-run OAP home.
The British tourist began sleeping rough after her personal belongings were stolen in Peru. She ended up living under a bridge in the city of Cusco, and slept alongside the man, who became the only person she trusted for an entire month.
On Tuesday, the 32-year-old fashion graduate was found by a Good Samaritan she had earlier met on her travels. He joined in on the search efforts and successfully located her.
Piero Villanueva posted a selfie of the pair smiling and told local media: “I have just found her. She is safe and well. I’d like to thank the authorities and the people who contacted me so I could help her. Hannah recognised me and approached me crying and I asked her to leave with me. Thanks God she’s safe.”
READ MORE: Brit Hannah Almond missing in Peru ‘after attack’ seen with man who found her
Hannah is expected to be flown back to the UK to continue her recovery. Overnight it emerged the elderly man she had spent most of the last few weeks with died at the charity home he had been taken to after a brief stay at a hostel. He is understood to have been found dead in his bed yesterday.
Local authorities have confirmed he has yet to be identified and are now expected to try to find out who he is with fingerprint tests as part of an autopsy and a possible public appeal. If he cannot be formally identified he is likely to be buried in a pauper’s grave. It is not yet clear whether Hannah, whose mental health is known to be unstable, has been told the devastating news about the man.
Henry Gonzales, a legal advisor for a Cusco public beneficence department, confirmed Hannah’s friend’s death, saying he had been admitted to the OAP residence where he died with the initials NN which stand for Ningun Nombre or No Name in English.
He also claimed the homeless man had appeared to be okay health-wise when local authorities took him in, adding: “He had already been assigned a bed and a room in his new residence.” The dead man’s body is now at a morgue in Cusco. There is nothing at this stage pointing to his death being crime-related.
A GoFundMe appeal set up by friends of Hannah’s to help her get back to the UK from Peru before she vanished after her forced eviction now stands at nearly 95 per cent of its £10,000 target.
Hannah’s pal Sophie Wallace had revealed on the GoFundMe page before her worrying disappearance late last week: “Hannah travelled to Peru in March hoping for an adventure but instead she has found herself in a terrifying and heartbreaking situation.
“She was robbed and assaulted, losing her passport, phone, and all of her money. Since then Hannah’s mental health, something she has long struggled with, has severely declined. She is now in the midst of a mental health crisis, living under a bridge with a homeless man she befriended, the only person she currently trusts.
“Despite attempts to help her through official channels, Hannah is deeply fearful and unable to accept support from the embassy or local authorities. She is extremely vulnerable, isolated, and not safe living on the streets of Peru.”
Mark Atkinson, the British Consul in Peru, told local media Hannah arrived in Cusco in early March as a tourist and did not plan to overstay her visa as he revealed her immigration status was now in limbo.He said before she sparked fears for her safety by vanishing that the embassy had coordinated help with local police and offered direct support including hotel accommodation and food, but she kept returning to the same bridge she had been sleeping under before her forced eviction.