The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

ITALIAN police have concluded that the deaths of two Bahamian men in Italy this month were accidental, according to Italian media reports.

The bodies of Alrae Ramsey and Blair John are expected to arrive in The Bahamas on Wednesday, an Italian reporter told The Tribune. The newspaper la Repubblica reported that the prosecutor’s office in Italy cleared the transport of the bodies, several weeks after they were discovered lifeless on June 4 and June 5 in the Po river in Turin.

“The autopsy revealed that in all likelihood their death, which occurred on the evening of May 30, had been accidental, by drowning,” the paper reported according to a translation of its language. “They had both drank, although the levels of alcohol found would not have been so high as to make them completely drunk. However, according to investigators, one of them could have slipped into the water, or jumped, and the other would have drowned in an attempt to help him. Analysis is still in progress to find confirmation of the drowning, in particular we look for altered values in tissues, makers of this type of death.

“After days of investigation in which the death of Blair and Ramsey seemed wrapped in the most dense mystery, the mobile squad agents found that it was not an international spy story, but an accidental tragedy. Their luggage, which had disappeared for a week, had simply remained closed in a room of the bed & breakfast where they were staying.

“It remains to be clarified why Ramsey and Blair ended up in the river and where they would have thrown themselves,” the translated article noted.

Also to clarify these aspects, checks are still being carried out on their electronic devices: mobile phones, smart-watches, tablets and PCs.”

In an interview with Italian press, Bahamas High Commissioner to London Ellison Greenslade stressed he could not comment substantively on the matter but said: “We’ve been well received in this country. We’ve been treated with the greatest measure of respect by your government, all of your officials. Family members and officials of my government are very satisfied with the level of cooperation. You’ve been wonderful people.”

The Bahamas government has not provided an update on the status of the investigation into Ramsey and John’s death or confirmed whether Italian authorities have formed a conclusion. Foreign Affairs Minister Darren Henfield could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Ramsey, a foreign service officer on study leave in Vienna, was reportedly in Turin on a break. He and his friend, John, were staying at a bed and breakfast establishment at Via la Loggia 2 in Turin.

John, a 28-year-old Saint Mary’s University graduate student, was there to attend a psychology conference.

The men both attended the same high school, Saint Augustine’s College in New Providence. Their families have previously expressed disbelief that the men drowned accidentally.