The body of Alessandro Coatti, who was working for the prestigious Royal Society of Biology in London, has been found inside a suitcase which was dumped in a Colombian city
A UK-based scientist working for the prestigious Royal Society of Biology has been murdered in Colombia. Alessandro Coatti’s dismembered body was found in a suitcase dumped in a stream in the Caribbean city of Santa Marta.
Police are said to have found only his head, hands and feet and are said to be still searching for his torso and other parts of his body. Trained molecular biologist Alessandro had worked at the Royal Society of Biology since April 2017 – first as a science policy officer and for the past six years as a senior science policy officer according to his LinkedIn page.
Before joining the professional association, created to advance the interests of biology in academia, industry, education and research, the Italian-born scientist had been a post-graduate neuroscience researcher at University College London.
Santa Maria’s mayor Carlos Pinedo Cuello has offered a near £10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for Alessandro’s gruesome murder. He said late yesterday: “I have instructed the authorities to join forces to solve the death of the Italian citizen Alessandro Coatti.
“We are offering a reward of fifty million Colombian pesos for information that will allow us to identify and capture those responsible. This crime will not go unpunished. Criminals must know that in Santa Marta criminality has no place. We will pursue them until they are brought to justice.”
Mr Coatti, who was staying at a hotel in Santa Marta’s scenic historic centre he was last seen seen leaving on Friday, is believed to have been on holiday in the area.
His remains were reportedly discovered yesterday by a group of children. The spot where he was found is by a road leading to the Sierra Nevada football stadium, which was the host stadium for the football matches at the 2017 Bolivarian Games and is the home stadium of local side Union Magdalena.
The dead man is said to have been identified by a hotel wristband on one of the parts of his body that were discovered.
Alessandro described himself on his social media as a “driven and enthusiastic senior professional with more than seven years experience of influencing public policy through science” as well as a “big picture thinker and creative problem solver.”
He added on LinkedIn: “I am a trained biologist (molecular & cellular biologist, with 5+ years of research experience in neuroscience), who has worked in science policy for the past 6+ years.
“I have conducted my most recent work in the UK science policy ecosystem, where I interacted and managed relationships with the different stakeholders: learned societies, scientific academies, industry, regulatory bodies, government departments (incl. senior leadership and ministers) and parliament.
“My remit has focused specifically on ethical research and innovation topics, particularly in the animal and biomedical fields.”
His professional biog shows he spent more than a year between 2010 and 2011 working as a staff research associate at the Medical Research Council. From September 2011 to June 2013 he was a postgraduate researcher in neuroscience at University College London.
He said of his move into policy in a February 2022 interview the Royal Society of Biology published on its website: “There are two main aspects – one is the passion for science that I’ve always had, and the other is a new passion for community building and stakeholder engagement.
“I have discovered I really like the mediation and negotiation part of the role. You have to listen to people with different views and try to understand their thoughts, what their interests are and how you can reach a consensus.”
In October last year he spoke about his work at the Royal Society of Biology and his career trajectory for an Offspring Magazine podcast.