A BRIT who was found dead at the bottom of a lift shaft while on holiday in Turkey was murdered, his grandparents say.
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Collette and Ray Kerry are convinced that their 20-year-old grandson met with foul play and are deeply dismayed by the way the police investigation has been conducted.
Speaking to The Sun through tears, grandma Collette, 56, said: “We are broken, we are all broken.”
She added: “I am so angry and frustrated that I am not getting anywhere in finding out why he died.
“I promise you that I am not going to stop until I find answers… I will find answers for my boy, I want justice for him.”
Initially, they thought Tyler may have fallen to his death on Friday morning after walking through the lift doors and directly into the cavity.
According to the couple, CCTV footage captured the young man, Tyler, entering the lift wearing his North Face joggers and casually pressing a button, just like he normally would.
That and several other “beyond bizarre” things have left them believing their grandson was murdered.
Ray, 61, and Collette, of Basildon, Essex say it makes no sense why Tyler was found nearly naked.
Tyler’s vape, trousers, shoes, and cellphone were also found on level one of the hotel near to the lift shaft.
Collette expressed her shock by revealing, “It [the vape] was covered in blood, that shows me foul play before my grandson was thrown – or whatever had happened with that lift shaft.”
“I know my grandson was murdered for the simple reason his vape was found on level one and he was found on the ground floor.
“If he has fallen, why would he not have his vape with him at the bottom of the lift shaft.
“Why would that vape have blood on it?”
Forensic cops also took evidence from hand prints and a face smear left on an internal window on level one near the lift shaft, they say.
Collette said Tyler was also found with two black eyes which he couldn’t have received from a fall as the lift cavity is a “flat surface”.
Tyler’s body has now been returned to the UK with Collette demanding a post-mortem to be carried out here.
His family and friends are also raising money through a gofundme for his funeral and the legal fees they are expecting to pay.
Last moments
Ray and Collette last saw Tyler just hours before his death, at about 10pm last Thursday night, before going to bed and leaving him with some of his siblings watching the hotel entertainment.
Tyler had gone to a nightclub in the lobby of the hotel with his brother, cousin, and girlfriend where the group had been drinking.
Afterwards, at about 4am, his brother, Mason Read, left Tyler lying on a settee in the lobby to go and get a drink.
But when Mason returned he found only Tyler’s jacket and a tissue on the floor, Collette said.
Mason, 18, and the others went up to their room looking for Tyler – but he was not there.
CCTV showed Tyler after he had got up from the settee, Collette said, being a “little bit wobbly”, and as he walked into the lift “turn to the right and press the button”.
The group looking for Tyler spoke to two hotel staff who pointed them in the direction of the lift shaft on the ground floor.
Collette said: “Eventually they found Tyler at the bottom of the lift shaft… there was Tyler’s body on full view because it’s a complete glass lift all the way round.
“No trousers on, no top on, no jacket, no possessions on him whatsoever.”
Family slam hotel
The grandma slammed the hotel’s response and said staff wouldn’t help with the investigating and wouldn’t provide them with CCTV of the moments that led up to Tyler’s death.
Collette said: “They’ve got quite a few CCTV cameras in the hotel but for some reason they have got no footage of any of his movements.”
Ray also accused the general manager of taking other guests sightseeing to where the vape and pants were found and telling the holidaymakers it was a “suicide”.
Collette said: “No way Tyler was suicidal, he was having such a good time.”
Ray said the hotel wanted to get rid of them as soon as possible.
He said: “After that [the death], all they wanted to know was ‘when are you going home?’
“We’ve been made to feel so uncomfortable.”
A spokesperson for Trendy Lara told The Sun: “We would like to share our heartfelt condolences to the family of Tyler Kerry who sadly passed away while on holiday at Trendy Lara Hotel.
“We did continue to provide support to Tyler’s family at this incredibly difficult time.
“As this is a police investigation we are unable to comment further.”
Police failure
The vape and pants were quickly handed back to the family – but Collette was left fuming after believing they could be key pieces of evidence that need forensic testing.
Only four people in the Kerry family group of nine on the trip were interviewed for “about five minutes”.
Collette said the police investigation was not thorough and they often battled through a language barrier to understand what was going on.
She said: “They didn’t let us use Google translate and we were not willing to allow Turkish members of the staff at the hotel to be the translator.”
The Turkish cops confirmed on Monday that the death was “suspicious”.
Despite that, the grandparents feel that Turkish cops rushed them and didn’t offer them fair translations of what they were telling them.
Ray said: “We feel like there was no investigation from the Turkish police.
“I don’t feel like there was an investigation, I really don’t.”
The Turkish Presidency told The Sun that Tyler fell to his death.
A spokesperson from the Directorate of Communications said: “There was no proof of firearm or sharp object injuries” on Tyler’s body found during an post-mortem.
“There were broken parts thought as they were owing to the falling down, and intense blood congestion on the head was observed.”
