The case of a man whose body parts went missing from his corpse has featured in a UK newspaper under the headline 'Horror of the organ snatchers'.

An investigation into the disappearance of Norman Palmer's organs is being carried out by the Bermuda Coroner, the Coroner for East Somerset in the UK, and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Mr. Palmer's family say they are still awaiting answers from the Bermuda Police Service and King Edward VII Memorial Hospital (KEMH) into the circumstances of his death, but they will push for the inquest to be held in public.

Last month The Royal Gazette reported that for the past year, Coroner Archibald Warner has held the majority of inquests into sudden or unnatural deaths in private, on a 'file review' basis. He is to reserve open hearings for "special interest" cases.

Yesterday, Mr. Palmer's sister Marion Bishop said: "We would like a public inquest. We don't know how my brother died and his body parts are still missing. The ambulance took 20 minutes to get there, and then my brother was in ER for another 20 minutes. Then his body was mutilated – is that the way bodies are normally handled?"

Ms Bishop has offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to the return of her brother's missing organs.

The case of Mr. Palmer was one of several which featured on Sunday in the UK tabloid 'The News of the World', which sells 3.2 million copies each week. The article questioned whether someone had stolen Mr. Palmer's organs, stating "organ snatching is a growing problem – as Brits who die abroad have body parts removed, often perfectly legally but without the knowledge of relatives".

In the UK, consent must be obtained if organs are to be removed in a post-mortem, but in many foreign jurisdictions relatives do not have to be informed. In Bermuda, the Coroner's Act 1938 states a Coroner can authorise a pathologist to remove organs without the family's permission, in order to investigate a cause of death. However, the family can request their medical practioner to be present.

Mr. Palmer, 57, of Leafy Way, Paget, died on April 12 at KEMH. He was not an organ donor but when his body was returned to the UK, a second post-mortem revealed the following parts were missing: two-thirds of the brain; a 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 KEMH and funeral home Amis Memorial Chapel have denied any wrongdoing in the care of Mr. Palmer. UK funeral directors, Irish and Denman of Petherton in Somerset, also say the body arrived in an embalmed state with no signs of the casket being tampered with.

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.

KEMH has carried out an internal inquiry into the circumstances surrounding Mr. Palmer's death, but a spokeswoman could not comment due to issues of confidentiality.

"Information on the details of Mr. Palmer's case cannot be issued until this investigation is complete," she said.

Yesterday a 'Bermudian citizen' posted this response on 'The News of the World' website: "I find it most horrendous that the missing of body parts is taking place on this paradise Island.

"We pride ourselves of being one of the most sophisticated and civilised places on earth, but yet we have no regard or respect for the deceased and their family members."