Si bien en este punto no se puede descartar por completo la participación de terceros en la muerte del académico británico, la probabilidad es “muy baja”, según indicó el fiscal regional Adrián Vega, quien mantiene la hipótesis de un extravío con desenlace fatal por las características del terreno.
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This Thursday morning, GOPE Coquimbo personnel found the lifeless body of British astronomer Thomas Marsh (61), who had been missing since Friday, September 16, two days after arriving in Chile in the middle of a work trip to the La Silla observatory, located at the northern limit of the Coquimbo Region.
The news was confirmed by Carabineros de Chile after 12:30 p.m., putting an end to 56 days of an extensive and arduous search, which has captured the attention of national and international public opinion, and which in its final stretch included the presence of the scientist's wife and two of his sons in the field, who arrived in the country a few days ago.
The discovery was made
5 kilometers away from the observatory, in the same grounds of La Silla, which is administered by the European observatory ESO, which collaborated with the tracking in the complex ground where the astronomical observation center is located. The point is within the "site of interest" delimited by the investigation of the Regional Prosecutor's Office of Coquimbo, based on the evidences found in the cloths during the eight weeks in which the works were extended.
It should be noted that, according to preliminary presumptions in the investigation, led by the regional prosecutor Adrián Vega, Tom Marsh would have left his hotel room at the observatory
in the morning and, on his way to the telescope, he could have taken one of the trails on the side of La Silla hill, where he would have gotten lost.
From the point
where his first belongings were found in the open air, the search progressed along paths
of difficult access, finding
other items that the astronomer dropped on his walk, such as clothes and a bottle of water, according to the background of the investigation. These objects were sent for laboratory analysis, where it was confirmed that they corresponded to the scientist.
At the last point
where evidence was found, 3.5 kilometers from the observatory, specific areas and a possible route in the direction of Punta Colorada were established, and the area was combed to find new clues and the missing person.
In principle, Prosecutor Vega had extended the work until October 30, requesting new resources, including border personnel from the Army and specialized units from the Chilean Fire Department. However, due to the lack of results and with new resources requested by the prosecutor, a new extension of the search was announced, until the first half of November, in the hope of covering all the ground that remained to be covered and finding the whereabouts of the Warwick scholar.
RESCUE AND HYPOTHESIS
Once the news was confirmed, hours passed before the first information on the discovery could be obtained. El Día sources indicated, after 5:00 p.m., that the rescue work continued,
since the body was in a place of difficult access, requiring elements such as ropes to remove it.
The work was arduous and late at night, the authorities held a press conference from the camp at the site, to give preliminary information after the external examinations, which must now be contrasted with expert reports and in-depth analyses, in order to determine what happened with certainty.
Although the cause of death and possible involvement of third parties w
ill have to be ratified by the examinations of the Forensic Medical Service (SML), the main hypothesis of the Prosecutor's Office and the PDI is that Tom Marsh
suffered an accident in the middle of his hike along the trails and hills of La Silla.
"It is a very steep area, in which in order to go down the hills you have to go through v
ery rocky sectors and, effectively, anyone can twist their ankle and fall. That is one of the working hypotheses, which must be confirmed by forensic examinations," said Vega.
To explain the difficulty of the terrain and the possibility of an accident after a loss, El Día spoke with people involved in the search, who commented that it is not a straight line road, but that there are slopes and unevenness to be overcome. In addition, due to the extension and characteristics of the terrain,
it is easy to lose one's bearings if one loses a reference point, such as the observatory. In fact, sources indicate that in the middle of the work, a team of high mountain rescuers walked for more than six hours one night and
were unable to return to the camp.
This context, then, allows us to have a better reference of the point where Tom Marsh was found, 5 kilometers from the observatory. It should be recalled that evidence of his passage had been found between
1.5 and 3.5 kilometers and, as pointed out by the regional prosecutor yesterday at press point, "all the surroundings of La Silla had been tracked up to 5 and 8 kilometers around and that work was being redone, because due to the characteristics of the terrain, it was likely that he could have not been seen from some angle, because it was a rocky sector and you have to be at a precise angle to be able to observe."
INVESTIGATIONS: DATE AND CAUSE OF DEATH
The prosecutor Adrián Vega, highlighted the fact of "being able to give peace of mind to the family" with this finding, after months of uncertainty about the whereabouts of the Briton. "The investigation continues with all the rigorous examinations to define all the contours of the case," he said.
Although the prosecutor did not venture to estimate a date of death, which will have to be determined with certainty, as in every death, the analysis of experts allow us to have an estimated period, which in this case, according to sources of our media, would be 55 days. The search lasted 56 days, so Marsh's death
would have been early after his disappearance.
To determine this and other important data, such as the cause of death, the prosecutor decided to send the body to the Forensic Medical Service of the Metropolitan Region, where it is expected to advance more quickly in the relevant examinations, in parallel to the investigation being carried out by the Homicide Squad of the PDI La Serena.
In the city of Santiago, Vega explained, it will be faster and more opportune to have access to all the possibilities of specialists, examinations and more specific laboratory analyses, which commonly delay the investigations in the regions.
"In any case, they were going to have to be carried out and we prefer to do it in situ, so that it will be more precise and the family will soon be able to carry out all the necessary procedures", he added.
FAMILY IN SILENCE
Thursday marked 12 days since Felicity Marsh, Thomas' wife, and two of their children arrived at the La Silla site to follow the details of the search first hand. Until then, they had been following the case in direct contact with the regional prosecutor, but from England.
Days before arriving, they published what has been their only statement, apart from the tweets that both Felicity and her daughter Tabitha had published to spread the news of the disappearance of the scientist. In the opportunity, they thanked for the show of support and gave heartfelt words to Marsh, waiting for news.
They had planned to travel back to Santiago in the early hours of Friday morning, when they received the news from the prosecutor Adrián Vega.
At the time of going to press, they had not made any new statements on their social networks and it is not known what steps they will take next.
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