Mom holds out hope for Adrian's body

A MORUGA mother is not letting go of the hope that the body of her son – Adrian Hospedales, who was killed recently in Venezuela – would be returning to her for a proper burial.

Urmine Hospedales-Bishop said, "We have not yet gotten the body and we are still trying on our own. He was my first son. There would be a meeting with the family to decide on the funeral arrangements. For now, my main purpose is to get back the body."

The bereaved mother, who lives at Gran Chemin Village, did not want to divulge much information, but promised to inform Newsday when the body arrives.

Hospedales, 34, worked as a fisherman and was a former soldier. He was one of three fishermen who went fishing off the coast of Moruga on January 23, when armed Spanish-speaking men snatched them. Two of the men, 29 and 22, were released about a week later.

Hospedales frequented Venezuela and spoke Spanish fluently.

The kidnappers initially demanded a US$30,000 ransom from the family, but later asked for medicine and groceries.

Hospedales-Bishop said her son was one of several people injured in an explosion on March 28 at Tucupita, Venezuela, where he was being held captive. Two days later, he died while being treated at a hospital.

Since then, the family has been trying to get his body home, saying they did not have money to bring it back themselves. They did not pay the ransom.

Apart from speaking to some of Hospedales’ Venezuelan friends about the death, the other evidence they have is an image of a body in a morgue. The image has been circulating on social media and Hospedales-Bishop confirmed it was her son's.