Liam’s family dealt another cruel blow

Payne’s loved ones have learned it could take more than a week before the singer’s body can be taken home.

The One Direction star’s father Geoff Payne arrived in Buenos Aires, Argentina, last week to formally identify his son, and visit the hotel room where he died.

“Geoff has been told it might take ten days for the tests to be completed and for him to take Liam home,” a family friend told Daily Mail.

 

“It is the uncertainty of not knowing when this ordeal will be over is what he is finding very difficult to deal with.

“The Argentine officials say they expect the results to take ten days, but it might be a lot less time than that.”

The family friend added the 66-year-old was struggling in the aftermath of his son’s death but wanted to “do right by Liam” and refused to go back without him.

Payne, 31, met a tragic end in a Buenos Aires hotel room last Wednesday afternoon, local time, falling from his third-floor balcony amid reports of disturbing behaviour and spiralling drug use.

Liam’s father’s sad pilgrimage comes as the singer’s sister today revealed that she learned of her brother’s death like the rest of the world - via the media.

“When I saw the news pop up on my phone that you had left us I went cold, I wanted so much for this to be untrue. I have spent days hoping that it was a mistake and somebody has got it wrong,” Liam’s sister Nicola wrote, noting that he was “too good for this earth”.

Meanwhile, initial toxicology reports on Payne have revealed that the singer was under the influence of a dangerous cocktail of illegal drugs at the time of his death.

A “partial autopsy” found that Payne had substances including cocaine, crack and the depressant benzodiazepine in his body, sources told ABC News.

The outlet reports that the test also found he had “pink cocaine” – a mix of methamphetamine, ketamine, MDMA and others – in his system.

Eyewitnesses at the hotel have claimed Payne exhibited “disturbing” behaviour on the day of his death, behaving erratically and aggressively.