Valerie De La Valedene died in the Galapagos Islands in June 2014
The family of a woman who died in the Galapagos Islands in 2014 are planning to return to the scene of her death to prove it she was murdered and did not commit suicide as claimed by local police.
Valerie De La Valdene was found dead in the home she rented in Puerto Ayora in June 2014. She was 48-years-old and died of a single gunshot wound to the head.
Local police ruled her death a suicide, noting that there was lots of empty alcohol bottles in the home at the time and the fact that she was found lying next to a gun and a cell phone.
Valerie was an award winning underwater photographer who had been living on the island for years. At the time of her death, she was also suffering from bipolar depression.
Her father, 73-year-old Guy De La Valedene, still lives in Florida, where she grew up. He and her brother believe she was murdered and are determined to prove it.
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ShareThey say the fact that there was no gunpowder on her left hand, but that there was some on her right, proves that someone else killed her.
A broken string of pearls was also found at the scene and her safe had been almost emptied.
Valerie was an award winning underwater photographer and had lived in the region for years
Valerie's father Guy De La Valdene (left) is determined to solve the mystery surrounding her death
Locals who were friends with the woman also told authorities that she was being threatened in the weeks before her death and say she also had information linking local officials to drug deals.
She was also married to a local man who was decades older than her. Her family say the union was out of convenience and to allow her to travel to remote locations to take photographs without being bothered by officials.
Her brother plans to travel to the Galapagos Islands later this year to ask more questions.
'We just want to show that we are still interested and still doing something,' Guy De La Valdene told The Miami Herald.
As part of the investigation into her death, Valerie's skull was exhumed from her grave in 2015.
Her father is in the process of trying to have it returned to him so that he can rebury it.
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