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The family of an Australian man are criticising Balinese officials after his body was returned home without his heart.

Byron Haddow was found face-down in a Bali swimming pool on May 26, but his death was not reported to police until May 30, news.com.au reports.

Concerned about the strange circumstances of their son’s death, Robert and Chantal Haddow reiterated they wanted Byron’s whole body returned to them.

The towels used to wrap his body were bloody and he had numerous cuts and bruises.

An initial autopsy was undertaken at Ngurah General Hospital by forensic medical specialist Dr Nola Margaret Gunawan.

Having deemed the 23-year-old’s death suspicious, police also ordered a second, more detailed forensic autopsy: a procedure that frequently involves the removal of organs.

Gunawan concluded Byron had likely drowned due to the combined effects of alcohol and antidepressants but could not conclusively determine a cause of death.

His heart was removed and retained by the hospital, something Gunawan said was common practice.

Byron was found unconscious in the swimming pool of a private villa. Photo / Haddow family

The Haddow’s were horrified to discover their son had been returned home without his heart - and “without our knowledge, without our consent, without any legal or moral justification”.

Byron’s heart had to be separately repatriated at a cost to the family of $700.

It did not arrive in Australia until after he had already been buried.

While Gunawan empathised with the Haddow family, she said organ retention is common practice.

“We understand that the deceased is not just biological evidence. They are a family member, a loved one,” she said.

“But if there are two requests for autopsies, obviously we have to give more priority to the legal matter. Pathologists all over the world do the same thing.”

With the cause of his death still unclear, the family suspect Byron may have met with foul play.

It’s a possibility Gunawan also could not dismiss “based on the pattern of injuries found on his body”.

A second autopsy is under way in Brisbane to formally determine Byron’s cause of death, and an investigation has been opened by the Coroners Court of Queensland.