🔗 Share this article

The grieving relatives of a woman who died beside her boyfriend after ingesting tainted homemade beverage state they are determined for justice.

Greta Otteson, thirty-three, and the man, in his mid-thirties, were discovered deceased on Boxing Day in the coastal city, Vietnam, as a outcome of lethal substance ingestion.

A short time earlier, the woman had contacted her family, her relatives, to say she had "the worst headache imaginable" and was going to lie down, but she passed away in her sleep.

A bartender who supposedly prepared the limoncello was taken into custody in last winter and is being detained without charge. The parents explain they have had no further updates from the investigators.

"It's about answers," expressed Paul, continuing: "We are unable to heal."

The harmful substance is a type of chemical commonly used in household chemicals, gasoline and engine fluids.

This substance is like drinking alcohol, which is intended for beverages, but it is more affordable and more toxic to individuals because of the way it is metabolized by the human system.

In the parents' residence in their village, the Welsh county, two urns remain beside the entryway – one has a pink bunny placed on top, the second, a blue teddy.

The containers contain their children's ashes.

"The urns remain in the living room with the family," explained Paul, a retired professional. "The family want to put them to rest, but we feel we cannot do that until we get a proper conclusion."

Greta had been living in the coastal town with Arno, her international fiance of about 24 months, where the pair ran a guesthouse leasing rooms to tourists.

Greta was an sole offspring, remembered by her father as "amazing", a "adventurous person" and a "committed professional" who educated herself in the UK, France and the United States.

In November, Greta's dad, 71 and Greta's mum, 70, had travelled to the Asian country, getting to know Arno for the first time, and the two revealed their engagement shortly afterwards.

"Their time together proved lovely – we were so content," recalled Paul, who referred to Arno as "quiet but highly intelligent" and someone he "dreamed to have as a relative."

In their trip, the parents dined a number of times at Good Morning Vietnam, a popular establishment, where they appreciated the meals and received free glasses of house-made specialty drink at the finish.

Several weeks later, when the parents had departed Vietnam and were trying to decide on a holiday present for their daughter and her partner, they remembered the venue and its bottles of their specialty drink and decided to order a few of them for shipping to their loved one's house.

It was a action that would have the tragic outcomes.

Within hours of trying the beverage, the woman contacted her family on the holiday to say she had a awful sickness and was noticing dizziness but brushed off advice from her parents, and a acquaintance who had visited, to get medical help.

The couple were found dead in different areas of the property on the following day. Soon later, her family were on a flight to Southeast Asia.

Greta's dad recalled the significant online rumors that followed as well as the difficulty to manage the logistics of handling a death in a foreign country.

It was quickly before autopsies showed Greta and Arno had succumbed from lethal methanol poisoning.

In February, police apprehended a bartender who was employed in a venue in the area for "disregarding laws on edible items" by "employing previously utilized strong medical grade ethanol, combined with filtered water, citrus rind and sweetener to produce multiple containers of the beverage."

Based on national legal codes, the crime could lead to a maximum sentence of a lengthy period.

Hundreds of individuals are poisoned by toxic alcohol every year in the region, as stated by non-profit entities.

The couple's deaths came just days after several people died of similar causes in Laos, a territory which shares a boundary with Vietnam.

The parents were informed investigations require patience in the region, with the chance of a individual being detained for a year before being formally accused or released.

Her parents expressed the delay for answers was becoming intolerable.

"The family just want accountability," emphasized Greta's dad. "We can't move on. Greta's mother questions every morning when we get up, 'any updates? Have there been changes?' I have to say 'nothing, no progress yet'."

"It's about answers," he added. "Closure for us would be holding responsible the individuals involved and charging them."

The couple mentioned they also felt "very upset" the restaurant where they had requested the limoncello was continuing business and had not formally apologised.

"The owners just carried on as if nothing has happened," stated Paul.

In the case of Paul and Susan, the pain is still very raw.

The father