By laura dale ldale@heraldexpress.co.uk
A NEWTON Abbot woman whose mother was murdered in the Dominican Republic says she is disgusted after investigators flew home the wrong body.
Antoinette Ede from Hilton Road said she was 'appalled and upset' to learn the body brought home was not her mum's.
Denise D'Courtenay, 60, a millionairess strip-club owner from London, was stabbed to death in July. The killer has not yet been found.
Mrs Ede, who is 42, was awaiting her mum's repatriation last Monday — seven weeks after her decomposing body was found in bushes on a beach on the Caribbean holiday island's north coast.
Mrs Ede's sister Naomi went to identify the body, only to find out it wasn't their mum.
Believing the body would be flown back in time, the family had organised a funeral for September 29.
Mrs Ede said: "We were fighting for weeks to get the body home and now they've sent us the wrong body.
"When my sister went to identify her they had completely the wrong woman. It's not my mum. The whole thing is an outrage."
Mrs Ede said she was relieved she fought off pressure from investigators to have the body cremated.
"They wanted to cremate her before flying her over. If we'd said yes to the cremation then we might not have realised we had the wrong body.
"It raises so many questions. Is the next body they fly over going to be my mum's, or have they got it?
"It also means another family is missing somebody and they haven't even been informed that their relative was flown to England. It's a disgrace."
Mrs Ede was brought up by a foster family in South Devon, but remained close to her mum who owned the Queen Anne strip-club in Vauxhall, South London, a popular haunt of footballers, soap stars and rappers.
Mrs Ede previously told the Herald Express: "She went on holiday and her flight home was cancelled. When she didn't get on the replacement flight my aunt got worried and reported her missing.
"I then got a phone call to say that Mum had been stabbed to death and left in the bushes."
Ms D'Courtenay had been holidaying on the island for 20 years and owned three apartments there.
Investigators claim to have identified Ms D'Courtenay by her tattoos, but the body which was flown home — that of a blonde-haired women with tattoos — is not the right one.
Mrs Ede said: "I don't know what to do or where to go. The worst thing is that I haven't grieved yet because I was trying to get mum home."
Mrs Ede and her family had been told by investigators not to travel to the Dominican Republic for their own safety.
"It makes you feel hopeless, because what can we do from here?" she said, adding that she wanted to raise awareness of the issue to prevent the same thing happening to other families.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We are aware of the death of a British woman in the Dominican Republic and we are providing consular assistance to the family.
"Police in both the UK and the Dominican Republic will be investigating the matter of the repatriation," he said.
Written by: xwill7, 16 Sep 2010 10:20 AM
From: United States, El cuarto bate
Why does the pic show a sign showing Santiago? This happened in the north coast
From: United States
this does not surprise me.
Written by: juanb, 16 Sep 2010 10:28 AM
From: Dominican Republic
Typical work from the Land of the Law of Minimum Effort. The only law that is ever enforced.
Written by: Juango, 16 Sep 2010 10:38 AM
From: United States, far S. Florida (formerly Santo Domingo)
As jusanb stated above, "TYPICAL". So sad indeed. It would not surprise me to see the DR government attempt to bill and collect from the family of this deceased woman for the shipment of the wrong body. My question is, where is the real Ms D'Courtenay now?
From: United States
WAs she really murdered or was somebody else murdered???
From: Dominican Republic
The Diminutive Republic does it again.
Written by: JCjua, 16 Sep 2010 11:07 AM
From: United States, New York
What is a MUM?
From: United States
juanb, when you characterise the DR as the land of the law of minimum effort, it tells me that you have a firm and immovable grasp of one of the main problems facing this country. try to gain as much as you can, by doing as little as you can is the national motto. that is why if you give a guy 50, 000 dollars to invest, he will either open a bar or a brothel, make small loans, open a banca, change foreign currency, or any of the myriad quick return scams. do not ask him to do something which takes time, effort, and perseverance to see the results.
From: United States
What a bunch of morons.
I am sure it will be someone elses fault.
From: Dominican Republic, North Coast
Jim, Her body was found dead in a very popular beach area where the surfers go in Cabrette. She was murdered and to this day the police have not found her murderers. This lady had lived in Cabrette for many yrs. and had donated alot of money and help to many Dominicans in the area. This ending is very disgusting for her family and friends.
From: United States
shameful
From: Dominican Republic, Dominican Republic
So who is the dead woman whose body was sent to England? Was she murdered too? If so, why didn't we hear about that crime?
Written by: xwill7, 16 Sep 2010 4:19 PM
From: United States, El cuarto bate
Did abc200 write this article??? Mum? It's mom!
Written by: Perez, 16 Sep 2010 5:03 PM
From: Dominican Republic
Good Grief!! they couldn't even do this right?? This unfortunate victim's family wouldn't even look towards DR again that;s for sure. May that lady's body return home. Rest in Peace.
Written by: danny00, 16 Sep 2010 6:22 PM
From: United States, syosset, key west, santo domingo AND NOW THE GLOBE TROTTER
tattoos
wonder how many bodies they have of older women with tattos that are dead?
but i hope this lady did not die in vain.... too many tourists are getting killed or robbed in the dr.
really! since the dr government does nothing to really protect the tourists
i pray lots of them do not come here for the vactions.
uk 1,000 come each year this gives 1,000 of dominicans a job.
but one person does not need to die on what was to be a great vaction instead death.
how in case gringos are reading this go to florida go to the keys its much more beautiful other there, great weather all year
and most important u will not go home in a body bag and thats for sure.
Written by: ElProfe 
, 16 Sep 2010 7:27 PM
From: Dominican Republic, Jarabacoa
My deepest sympathy goes out to Denise D'Courtenay family.
This country is the biggest piece of SHIT In the entire Caribbean.
No Laws to protect the Tourist.
You give and give them something with a kind heart AND they take your life in return.
It’s time for all of us Foreigners to get the HELL out while we are still alive.
PS. Beware Don’t come here. Go somewhere else. This country is HELL on Earth
From: United States
Profe, i am beginning to understand the wrath of some people, regarding life in this country. i am aware that there are muggers, and all manner of miscellaneous criminals in all parts of the world. but, when someone befriends you, and you serve them a bowl of poisoned oatmeal, in order to kill and rob them, then take the proceeds of the crime to go to the salon, that speaks to a level of depravity that defies sociological inquiry. it is not pretty.
Written by: airgordo, 16 Sep 2010 8:22 PM
From: Dominican Republic
there is NO NEED of any law to protect tourist, that's just ridiculus and have never heard such a thing, Tourist are HUMANs and as Humans they have Human rights, that are protected by the same Laws the dominicans are, NO law will protect you if somebody wants to kill you! i have been a foreigner as well and the only thing that is required is the enforcement of the LAW, not a special law as if the tourist or foreigners were better than the locals...
This is an unfortunate event but no different than any dominican been KILLED overseas, just the other week a pizza boy was killed for 100 US on NEW YORK!!...By the way the responsible for this wrong body incident is the person or entity who charged the family for their services, i don't like the Dominican Goverment but this time this has nothing to with them...how come no one from the family cared to come and indentify the body? and who told them it was too dangerous, this is not Irak
so the crap has to go on somebody who deserves it
From: United States
airgordo, i agree with some of what you say, and i am not much into moral relativism. however, there is a very sad aspect of life for gringos in this country. i know that the whips are going to come out, but i am going to say it, anyway. too often, in this beleagured land, it is the people whom you trust who do you in. it is the people who you befriend who spend time scoping out your house when you invite them over for drinks, only to rob it when they know that you have left. it is the security guard whom you treat like a friend who sets up criminals to jack you. it is the guy whom you pay as a watchman that turns a blind eye when you are getting mugged, only to split the proceeds when the matter is concluded. it is not reflective of people with a highly developed basic sense of right and wrong.
Written by: antonio1, 16 Sep 2010 9:03 PM
From: Dominican Republic, Av Santa Rosa, La Romana
Does the English Mission in DR had any supervision of the death, circumstances of the tragedy and the repatriation of the body?.... my sincere condolences to the family.
Written by: lovingit, 16 Sep 2010 10:31 PM
From: United States, Delaware
What if this is an insurance job by them "mum"... Look, this lady obviously was not involved in the most honest businesses ever, and had to give up her daughter for adoption. With the background info here, I say authorities should start looking into a possible fake death, and whoever on the DR side is in it, was pushing for cremation to hide the body. Why didn't these ladies travel to DR in the first place to collect the body?
From: United States
nice theory, lovingit. however, that being the case, i hardly see where they would want the corpse to have been repatriated to England. cremation would have been a better cover. combine that with the fact that there is very little embalming in the DR, if any, the scam could have revolved around the idea that the corpse was cremated post haste, as is the local custom. combine that with press releases and police blotters, and, presto, macho, you have the insurance company on the ropes.
From: United States
Hello why do we get surprise, wrong body, they din't protect the turist, and still the killer is not yet been found. All this done by whom? A dominican. do anyone know that only 20% of dominican are intelligent, very educated people, while the rest of 80% are a bunch of clowns with no education and trying to run a country that they have no clue how. This is dominican republic the beautiful country that is going from bad to worst. feel sorry for those who live there.
Written by: airgordo, 18 Sep 2010 3:26 AM
From: Dominican Republic
I assume that you live in FLORIDA, therefore you surely are an "american"...so let me ask you...when there is a crazy racist idiot that wakes up one morning on the USA and gets his automatic weapon and begins shooting anybody near, Why does THE POLICE does not PROTEC the people killed??? there are ENDLESS examples of this kinds of things that ironically DON'T HAPPEN on DR, who is there to protect??? who was there to protect that Pizza Boy Killed for $100 US??
By the way, must of the americans that i know, and i know quite a few, don't even have an idea what is bellow mexico therefore anyone who speaks spanish is a mexican or believe "america" it's their country as opposed to the continent that compiles the WHOLE western hemisphere...don't believe me? just switch on FOX News and enjoy how the STUPIDITY and IGNORANCE of other Humans on the world shows off live in the air...
Would i say 80% of the "americans" are Idiots because of those reasons??? NO, i'll be STUPID if so
Written by: airgordo, 18 Sep 2010 3:39 AM
From: Dominican Republic
THE POINT is that this kinds of things happens EVERYWHERE anytime...i would like to know also the opinions of these people here about the THOUSANDS of Cold Cases that rests on the Police offices that involve FOREIGNERS on the USA, lot of them Tourists...i guess that using the SAME LOGIC applied to DR, they did not protect the Tourists and They need LAWS to protect them...
The point is that Tourists are safe on a foreing land as consecuence of LOCAL safety, if the locals are unsafe, then there is so much SAFENESS that you could get and that drops dramatically if they DON'T use their own common sense.
Written by: DRmaker, 19 Sep 2010 1:08 PM
From: Canada
So much scare mongering here!
I would say the D.R. is a relatively safe place.
Went to Playa del Carmen on the Riviera Maya in Mexico this March. Can't remember how many times I was offered to buy coke and weed on the street.
Have had a lot of people trying to sell me Viagra or Cialis knock-offs in the streets of the D.R. (lol) but rarely the hard drugs.
I have been to the D.R. four times in the the last 20 months will be returning in October and in March. I travel solo most of the time. I like to get out of the resort and enjoy the local people and the towns/country side. Like most places in the world, you have to know your surroundings, have your wits about yourself, and have respect for the locals.
Sure, in the tourist towns in the D.R. you will encounter many types of characters.
To all tourists thinking of a trip to the D.R., I say to them get out of your resort and enjoy the (mostly) friendly people and the beauty of the country.
Written by: DRmaker, 19 Sep 2010 1:23 PM
From: Canada
It appears to me that the vast majority of the foreigners murdered on the north coast in the last year or so were expats - long-time residents (most with business interests there) - and not the garden variety type tourist who stays for one week or two.
A lot of you posters make the D.R. to be like Afghanistan. So far from the truth!
To all tourists: come and discover the warmth and beauty of the Dominican Republic.
Written by: Grullone, 19 Sep 2010 7:03 PM
From: United States
Probably a dead mule with coffin full of cocaine.
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Typical work from the Land of the Law of Minimum Effort. The only law that is ever enforced.
What is a MUM?
What a bunch of morons.
I am sure it will be someone elses fault.
wonder how many bodies they have of older women with tattos that are dead?
but i hope this lady did not die in vain.... too many tourists are getting killed or robbed in the dr.
really! since the dr government does nothing to really protect the tourists
i pray lots of them do not come here for the vactions.
uk 1,000 come each year this gives 1,000 of dominicans a job.
but one person does not need to die on what was to be a great vaction instead death.
how in case gringos are reading this go to florida go to the keys its much more beautiful other there, great weather all year
and most important u will not go home in a body bag and thats for sure.
This country is the biggest piece of SHIT In the entire Caribbean.
No Laws to protect the Tourist.
You give and give them something with a kind heart AND they take your life in return.
It’s time for all of us Foreigners to get the HELL out while we are still alive.
PS. Beware Don’t come here. Go somewhere else. This country is HELL on Earth
This is an unfortunate event but no different than any dominican been KILLED overseas, just the other week a pizza boy was killed for 100 US on NEW YORK!!...By the way the responsible for this wrong body incident is the person or entity who charged the family for their services, i don't like the Dominican Goverment but this time this has nothing to with them...how come no one from the family cared to come and indentify the body? and who told them it was too dangerous, this is not Irak
so the crap has to go on somebody who deserves it
By the way, must of the americans that i know, and i know quite a few, don't even have an idea what is bellow mexico therefore anyone who speaks spanish is a mexican or believe "america" it's their country as opposed to the continent that compiles the WHOLE western hemisphere...don't believe me? just switch on FOX News and enjoy how the STUPIDITY and IGNORANCE of other Humans on the world shows off live in the air...
Would i say 80% of the "americans" are Idiots because of those reasons??? NO, i'll be STUPID if so
The point is that Tourists are safe on a foreing land as consecuence of LOCAL safety, if the locals are unsafe, then there is so much SAFENESS that you could get and that drops dramatically if they DON'T use their own common sense.
I would say the D.R. is a relatively safe place.
Went to Playa del Carmen on the Riviera Maya in Mexico this March. Can't remember how many times I was offered to buy coke and weed on the street.
Have had a lot of people trying to sell me Viagra or Cialis knock-offs in the streets of the D.R. (lol) but rarely the hard drugs.
I have been to the D.R. four times in the the last 20 months will be returning in October and in March. I travel solo most of the time. I like to get out of the resort and enjoy the local people and the towns/country side. Like most places in the world, you have to know your surroundings, have your wits about yourself, and have respect for the locals.
Sure, in the tourist towns in the D.R. you will encounter many types of characters.
To all tourists thinking of a trip to the D.R., I say to them get out of your resort and enjoy the (mostly) friendly people and the beauty of the country.
A lot of you posters make the D.R. to be like Afghanistan. So far from the truth!
To all tourists: come and discover the warmth and beauty of the Dominican Republic.