The body of Ivo Petrov, the teenager who disappeared at the beginning of January in the Mar Menor when the canoe in which he was travelling with two friends capsized, was found last Thursday in the water by divers from the Civil Guard’s Underwater Activities Specialist Groups (GEAS). The first visual inspection of the body, when it was recovered from the lagoon, indicated that the boy had no obvious signs of violence, said sources close to the case. However, the causes of death cannot be determined until the full autopsy report is completed. And the definitive result could take weeks, even months, explained sources from the Armed Forces.
The reason why the full report is taking so long is due to tests such as the analysis of toxins, which cannot be carried out in the Region of Murcia: samples have to be taken from the body and sent to centres in other autonomous communities, as Murcia does not have the facilities to carry out these tests. However, the boy’s body will be handed over to his family in a few days, so that they can bury him.
Some tests on Ivo Petrov’s body, such as the analysis of toxins, cannot be carried out in the Region, so the specialists send samples to another community.
When the preliminary report is handed over to the court, the body of Ivo Petrov will be returned to his family, who will bury him in the municipal cemetery of Los Alcazares. Mario Cervera’s Town Hall will help the family to pay for the funeral expenses.
The report will reveal «whether the first hypothesis, that of an accident, is confirmed or something else,» says the lawyer, who will then decide whether the deceased’s family will take legal action.
The boy will be buried in the municipal cemetery of Los Alcázares when the body is handed over to the family.
The lifeless body was discovered, twenty days after the shipwreck, at a depth of about five metres and at a distance of between 1,000 and 1,500 metres from the port of Los Alcázares.
The mobile phone has not been found
The mobile phone with which the child left his home that night has still not been found. The investigators assume that it is submerged in the Mar Menor. If it were found, the Guardia Civil would try to dissect it, in case it could shed light on what happened that night.
The first visual inspection of the body, after being pulled from the water, indicates that there were no signs of violence.
Francisco Javier, one of the young survivors of the shipwreck, is summoned to testify in March, as an investigator, for his alleged involvement in the theft of the kayak in which he left with his two friends. The other survivor, José David, is not yet of legal age, so he will be heard at the offices of the Public Prosecutor’s Office for Minors.
