A sister traumatised by the disappearance of her brother's body parts from his corpse is offering a $20,000 reward for information.

Marion Bishop announced a $10,000 reward in last week's The Royal Gazette in the hope it would compel someone to step forward to assist the Police with their inquiries. However, a dearth of information in the past week has now prompted her to double the sum.

Ms Bishop, a businesswoman from Paget, said: "If I could find out categorically where those body parts are I would offer even more money. That's how important it is to me, to find out exactly what happened to my brother and to have that peace.

"Norman was my only brother, and for his body to be mutilated like this, it is hell. I am still having nightmares about what has happened to him. Norman was a great guy, he was fun to be with and had a great sense of humour. We are all angry and heartbroken. We just feel there has been no respect for him in death."

Ms Bishop said: "I am disappointed no one has come forward so far. This could happen to anyone."

The mystery of Mr. Palmer's missing organs is now the subject of an international investigation involving the Bermuda Coroner, a UK coroner and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Wife Kathy and sisters Heather Carberry and Ms Bishop have faced an agonising wait in the three months since his death — not knowing where his body parts are, who has taken them, and why.

Mr. Palmer, 57, was not an organ donor but his family returned his body to the UK — his country of origin, to find most of his organs were missing. The family made the horrific discovery after HM Coroner for East Somerset Tony Williams ordered another post-mortem, due to being dissatisfied with the cause of death on the Bermuda paperwork as "respiratory failure".

Mr. Palmer, of Leafy Way, Paget, died on April 12 at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital (KEMH). The owner of Professional Excavating, he requested that his body be flown back to Britain to be cremated in the event of his death.

According to the pathologist's post-mortem report at Yeovil District Hospital, Somerset, the missing body parts include: two-thirds of the brain including the brain stem; one kidney; the spleen; the "upper mediastinal structures" including the throat, the aorta arch of the heart; and most of the small and large intestines.

Both King Edward VII Memorial Hospital and funeral home Amis Memorial Chapels however, deny any wrongdoing in the care of Mr. Palmer. A spokesman for the Bermuda Hospitals Board said "a small number of tissue samples were retained" in the post-mortem, but that "all organs were returned with the deceased to the funeral home in line with BHB's policy".

A letter dated July 1 to the family's lawyer at Conyers Dill and Pearman states: "All of the major organs that were removed from Mr. Palmer's body, except the Larynx and attached Thyroid, were placed in a plastic bag which was then transferred with Mr. Palmer's body to the Amis Funeral Home."

Funeral director Leon Amis of Amis Memorial Chapels however, told The Royal Gazette: "Everything was done as it was supposed to be done." He claims that during the embalming process, the intestines, kidneys, parts of the brain and other organs were placed in a cavity in the abdominal area.

Mr. Palmer's UK funeral directors, Irish and Denman of Petherton in Somerset, say the body arrived back in Britain in an embalmed state.

Funeral director Nigel Irish said: "We collected Mr. Palmer's body from Gatwick Airport and took him straight to the hospital. The body was embalmed and so I told the Coroner's Officer I had no reason to examine it. It looked just as it was supposed to be."

The family's anguish has been compounded by the manner in which Mr. Palmer died. After complaining of an obstruction in his throat, it allegedly took 20 minutes to get him to Accident and Emergency, despite living just five minutes from the hospital, near Tee Street.

Sister Ms Carberry, of Somerset, UK, claims the ambulance attendant and driver made several bungled attempts to take Mr. Palmer out of the house on a trolley. Then in the ambulance, she says the tube to his oxygen mask became detached — something she had to bring to the attendant's attention.

KEMH is currently investigating the circumstances surrounding Mr. Palmer's death, with the results of the internal inquiry expected shortly.

The $20,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the return of Mr. Palmer's body parts. If you can assist, please contact Marion Bishop at: 732-9555.