This covers the case of Joanna, who was brutally murdered in South Asia.

This tragic death demonstrates the support offered by the team at LBT Global, and the diverse way in which we are able to assist.

Joanna’s family asked for our help after their daughter was brutally murdered in South Asia. Joanna’s family had faced many difficult situations in the past and they were in no way equipped to deal with the challenges of the murder of their daughter in a foreign country.

Joanna’s case was attracting international media attention and her mother was being bombarded with calls and intrusive doorstep visitors. LBT Global offered their expertise and successfully took over the handling of the media on behalf of the family.

Another huge challenge was bringing Joanna home. It has been said that this part of South Asia is possibly the hardest place in the world to arrange a repatriation. From our experience this is quite possibly true.

In this case a benefactor came forward and donated the costs of bringing Joanna home. However, we faced more challenges as the local investigating police announced that her remains would be kept indefinitely, in case they needed to take further forensic samples as the murder investigation continued. We appealed directly to the senior investigating officer, and they agreed to take samples immediately and store them, ands release the body for repatriation.

As time went on it emerged that Joanna’s killer had taken a picture of her shortly after her death. He had partially dismembered her. The photograph had ended up on the internet. We worked through the night, liaising with many different organisations worldwide, including major international internet service providers as well as search engine providers such as Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and others.

As a direct result of our intervention, we had the photograph removed from the internet before Joanna’s family were aware it existed. Clearly the shock of seeing such an image would have been catastrophic.

Dealing with such huge, global organisations can be challenging and it is often impossible to speak to a ‘real’ person. Over the years LBT Global has built up many crucial contacts, and the human emotional impact of such incidents can be explained. This often leads to a satisfactory resolution to a seemingly impossible problem.

We at LBT Global are acutely aware that the families are our partners in resolving the challenges that lay ahead. A critical part of any assistance we provide is keeping the family informed of any developments and also making them aware of any difficulties that we encounter.

In nearly all cases family members are so frustrated and distressed that they find it almost impossible to communicate effectively with the authorities. We appreciate that they need an advocate to work on their behalf to liaise with those in authority. Joanna’s case was no exception and the family needed a calm and independent voice to forge respectful and effective communication.

At one point it seemed certain that Joanna would be cremated and laid to rest in South Asia. Due to our intervention we were finally able to bring Joanna’s body home with the assistance of the funds donated by the anonymous benefactor.

However there were there additional costs mounting by the day. Another area of LBT Global’s expertise is advising on and setting up fundraising initiatives. We based this around Joanna’s loves and interests. We successfully helped the family to raise sufficient funds to cover all additional costs.

Joanna was finally laid to rest, close to her home with the funeral her mother so desperately wanted.

Without the involvement of LBT Global involvement Joanna’s family family may never have been able to bring Joanna home.