Man, 20, Found Dead at Bottom of Elevator Shaft During First Vacation with Girlfriend: 'Heart-Wrenching'

Mar. 15, 2025

Tyler Kerry.Photo:GoFundMe

GoFundMe

The family of a 20-year-old man is speaking out after he was found dead at the bottom of a hotel elevator shaft in Turkey while reportedly on his first vacation with his girlfriend.

Tyler Kerry was discovered on Friday, Nov. 29, inside the shaft at a hotel in Antalya, according toThe TimesandThe Telegraph.

Turkish police said that Kerry, of Basildon, Essex, had been drinking before his death at the Trendy Lara Hotel and that “there was no intervention” to the outside of his body or any “proof of firearm or sharp object injuries,“BBC Newsreported in an update on Friday, Dec. 6.

BBC News reported that the elevator at the hotel had been out of use at the time.

According to the GoFundMe, Kerry was found in just his underwear, and the family is trying to raise funds to pay for his funeral and launch a criminal investigation into his death, suspecting it is “suspicious.” The page has raised over $7,000 so far.

While speaking toThe Times, Price said that Kerry had stayed out later than his family members the night before his body was found, as he was watching a Manchester United soccer game on television.

“He was a young man at the beginning of his life,” Price told the outlet. “He had a girlfriend who he was devoted to and it was their first holiday as a couple. I think it was Tyler’s first time abroad.”

“He was energetic, likeable, approachable, friendly and very devoted to his family and looked after his younger siblings,” he added, according to the U.K. newspaper.

Kerry’s vape was found with apparent blood stains on it on the hotel’s first floor, his brother, Mason Read previously toldBBC News. He led the search for Tyler before his body was discovered.

According to the report, some of the family had been having a drink at the hotel bar in the early hours of Nov. 29 when Kerry, who had reportedly fallen asleep on a sofa, went missing.

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“Molly ran over, dropped to her knees and just started screaming ‘Tyler, get up’,” Read, 18, told the outlet of Kerry’s girlfriend’s reaction to finding his body.

He added, “It was heart-wrenching, heartbreaking. I never, ever thought I would see anything like that in my entire life.”

source: people.com