Jersey man found dead in French barn

Wednesday 28 June 2017

A Jersey man has been found dead in an abandoned barn in the South of France.

Robert Turner, born in Jersey on 15 January 1958, had been staying in a gîte in Saint-Marcel-Campes, a small village in the Tarn area - around an hour outside of Toulouse.

The 59-year-old regularly stayed at the gîte, and left the premises to walk his dog on Saturday afternoon, French authorities told Express.

The owner of the accommodation, himself an Englishman, became worried for Mr Turner's welfare after his dog returned to the gîte alone on Sunday afternoon. He was was reported missing at 16:30 local time on Sunday, local media reported.

Searches of the area were undertaken by the Gaillac military regiment, who found the islander’s body in a disused barn close to the accommodation he was staying in at 18:30 - just two hours after the alarm was raised. An investigation has since been opened, and inspectors strongly suspect the cause of death to be a suicide.

Pictured: Saint-Marcel-Campes is a small village in the Tarn department in the South of France.

A Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesperson said: “We are in contact with the French police following the death of a  British man in Toulouse.”