Body of Australian Man Returned from Bali with Missing Heart, Here's What Happened

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The heart of the deceased Byron James Dumschat, also known as Byron Haddow, was taken when his body was returned from Bali to his home country, Australia. The man was initially found dead in a villa in Badung, Bali on May 26, 2025.

The family's legal representative from the Malekat Hukum Law Firm, Ni Luh Arie Ratna Sukasari, said the oddity was only revealed after the body was repatriated to Australia almost four weeks after his death.

Ratna recounted that just before the funeral, the family was surprised to learn that their son's heart was not returned along with his body.

"Our client only found out that his son's heart was left in Indonesia without prior consent request to retain the heart by relevant parties," she said during a press conference on Wednesday, September 24, 2025.

Bali's Ngoerah Hospital Arranged to Return the Heart 

Amid the uncertainty surrounding Byron's death and the reason for his missing heart, the Ngoerah Hospital in Denpasar, Bali, promptly arranged to return his heart without any clarification, and even asked the deceased's family to bear an additional cost of AUD 700 for the repatriation process of the organ.

The heart was finally returned to Queensland on August 11, 2025, more than two months after the victim's death.

Ratna said Byron Haddow was found in the swimming pool, with an autopsy showing bruises, hemorrhages, and trauma to the head.

The medical findings raised serious questions and did not align with the simple explanation that the victim was just found in the pool, especially considering the uncertainty as to whether the victim was declared dead at the scene or at the hospital.

"The facts from the autopsy, the condition of the victim's body, and the witnesses at the scene not immediately reporting the incident further strengthen the belief that there was foul play," she said.

Police Investigate the Incident

The police only started investigating Byron Haddow's death on May 30, 2025, four days after the man was found dead.

Ratna said there were three other Australian nationals present at the villa when the victim died. They were BPW, KP, and JL.

According to Ratna, the family was left disappointed as the police let the three witnesses leave Bali without questioning them about Byron Haddow's death.

Ratna explained that the police had received the official autopsy results from the Forensic Medical and Mortuary Installation at the Ngoerah Hospital, which stated that an external examination was conducted on May 30, 2025 at 10:14 p.m. local time and an internal examination was carried out on June 4, 2025 at 10:43 a.m.

Autopsy Report from Ngoerah Hospital

The police also reportedly have summoned dr. Nola Margaret Gunawan, SpFM, the doctor who issued the autopsy report dated July 29, 2025, to give a testimony and further explanations to the investigators.

"The family also underscores financial transactions that occurred in the period before the victim's death, which is believed to provide clues about the victim's mobility prior to the incident," she said.

Therefore, the family considers it crucial for law enforcement to trace these financial flows, identify the involved parties, and link them to the testimony of existing witnesses to reveal the truth. 

Explanation from Ngoerah Hospital about the Autopsy

Separately, the Medical Director and Nursing of Ngoerah Hospital, Dr. I Made Darmajaya, Sp.B, Sp.BA., Subsp.D.A(K)., MARS, FIAFS confirmed the autopsy of the Australian citizen named Byron James Dumschat.

He said the examination of Byron James Dumschat's heart was carried out upon the request of the North Kuta Police Station, Badung Resort Police.

He explained that in this case, the heart must be taken as a whole to determine the location of heart abnormalities, which was not an easy task.

After the examination was concluded, Byron James Dumschat's heart was returned, after the body was flown back to Australia.

"This was because a longer time was needed to process the heart for anatomical pathology examination," he said.

To date, the Badung Resort Police have not provided an answer regarding the autopsy results of Byron James Dumschat's body and the cause of his death.

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