Skeletons of Spaniard Found in Bali After Last Seen in 2015

TheIndonesia.id - Human skeletons, believed to be a 76-year-old Spanish man, were found inside a house in Benoa, South Kuta, Badung regency, Bali.

The remains of Mario Llobet Esteban were first found by his adopted son Anang Firdaus on Sunday, March 13, when he visited the house for the first time after seven years.

Chief of South Kuta Police Pol. Commissioner I Ketut Sugiarta Yoga confirmed that based on statement given to the police, Firdaus last met Esteban in 2015. And about two weeks ago, Firdaus dreamed about his adopted father who asked him to come and visit the house.

When he arrived, Firdaus found the gate and front door to be locked. When no one came to open door, he broke in and got inside the house through one of the windows.

The door to Esteban’s room was also locked, and when Firdaus smashed the door and got inside, he found the skeletons on the bed.

“Therefore, the remains are believed to be his adopted father,” Sugiarta confirmed.

Police and the forensic team arrived at the scene later on, and the skeletons were taken to Sanglah Hospital.

‘We Thought He’d Returned to His Home Country’

Neighbors were shocked by the finding because residents of Wisma Nusa Permai neighborhood thought Esteban had long returned to his home country.

One resident Yulia said another neighbor last saw Esteban in April 2014.

“Ibu Koko, the person who lives across his house, told me he last saw Mario in April 2014 when she was going to the market. Mario said he didn’t feel well at the time,” Yulia said, as reported by Suara.com.

Neighbors didn’t hear any more news about him afterwards, and they thought Esteban had returned to Spain.

They weren’t aware of the body inside the house and didn’t detect any rotten smell from the decomposing body – even three years ago when the neighborhood cut a tree in front of the house.

“We didn’t suspect [anything] because there was no rotten smell, probably because the doors were tightly shut. However, Bu Suraji whose house is behind his once smelled a bad odor, but she thought it was coming from a dead mouse or cat. She didn’t think it was Pak Mario’s body because the smell came and went,” Yulia revealed.

She also said that Mario was a good man and known as a dog lover.

“Mario was a good person. I first knew him in the 1990s when I first moved here – it was in 1991 or 1992. He would walk his dog every day and feed his neighbors’ dogs, too.”

The house he lived in was a rented house owned by a man in Karangasem regency, who reportedly has also passed away.

Suara.com reported that the house was in a poor condition because it has been left uncared for years.

The ceiling was broken, and the yard is full of weeds. Esteban’s white Jeep was still parked, and the posters of legendary musicians like John Lennon and Bob Marley were still on the wall.