By Oliver Farrimond
THE GREIVING son of tragic Scots granny Julia Howard is to set out to Mexico to unravel the truth surrounding her death.
Henry Harvey, 56, is convinced his mum was murdered in the Mexican resort of Cancun, and plans to return to the scene of her death in June.
The body of 77-year-old Mrs Howard was found in a mangrove swamp after a five-week search, three miles from the Moon Palace Hotel where she was staying.
Mrs Howard, a widow, left her family sunbathing by the hotel pool, saying that she was going to fetch her hat.
She never returned from her walk, and hotel security staff said that there was no record of her leaving the hotel.
And now Mr Harvey, who lives in Balerno, Midlothian, wants to discover the truth after months of silence from Mexican authorities resulted in a police report – in Spanish.
He said: “I’m 100 per-cent convinced without any doubt that my mum was murdered across there.
“I owe it to my mum and the rest of my family and friends to try and find something out.
“I won’t feel very safe but I want to make sure people know I’m not going away.
“It could be dangerous for me because I’m going to be saying things that the Moon Palace won’t like, and it’s an extremely corrupt country.”
Mr Harvey said he also planned to set up a website offering a reward – around $4,000 – for information leading to an arrest.
He added: “We have heard nothing at all from the Mexican authorities in six months, other than receiving the police report which was in Spanish.
Suspicious Death
“To me there are only two things that could have happened, either my mum had an accident and her body was put where it was found, or she saw something and was murdered for what she saw, and the body was then put there.”
Mr Harvey said that the family were previously told by Mexican police that Mrs Howard’s death was not being treated as a murder inquiry, but as a suspicious death.
It was only earlier this month they realised it was in fact being dealt with as a possible homicide after part of the police report was translated for the family.
He added: “Everybody seems to think this is going to go away but it’s not.
“My mum was the most important person in the world to me and there’s no way we can let it go.”
Mrs Howard, who lived in Roseburn, vanished from the Moon Palace Golf and Spa Resort on 16 June – just 12 hours after arriving.
She was on a two-week holiday with daughter Julia, 55, Henry, and his wife Glynnis, 55.
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