Mum of Scots lad found dead in Colombia pays tribute to 'loving' son

The heartbroken mum of an Aberdeenshire man found dead in an apartment in Colombia has paid tribute to her "loving, caring" boy. Austen Arango Smith, 27, was discovered in a fourth-floor apartment in the town of Villamaria on Sunday morning.

His body was taken to a forensic medicine institute in the nearby city of Manizales so a post-mortem could take place. Austen was a fisherman from Banff, in the north coast of Scotland, and had moved to Colombia in 2022 to be close to his dad.

He had recently been in a serious motorbike accident following a crash in the South American country which left him in a coma, however his cause of death remains unknown. Austen's devastated mum was surrounded by friends and family as she paid tribute her son at his funeral on Tuesday.

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The funeral was streamed on YouTube with loved ones in Scotland tuning in through a live link. Austen's mum could be seen stood beside a picture of her son during the ceremony as she broke down in tears.

Little has been published locally about the possible cause of death, however one regional newspaper reported that Austen had been found with breathing difficulties in his room in a building called Atenas and was already dead by the time emergency services arrived.

Villamaria is a popular tourist destination in the department of Caldas which is part of Colombia’s Coffee Triangle. Although it lies just 190 miles west of the capital Bogota, the drive takes nearly eight hours.

There is nothing at this stage to suggest the British national’s death is being treated as a crime. A Foreign Office spokesperson said last night: “We are supporting the family of a British man who has died in Colombia”.

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