Alberta family navigates vacation death nightmare: ‘Basically stuck there’

A Mexican vacation for a Calgary couple ended in tragedy, and in the weeks since, the Boyd family has faced roadblocks at every turn in repatriating their patriarch's remains.

A vacation ahead of the holidays for a Calgary couple to relax before the Christmas chaos ended in tragedy — which triggered a bureaucratic nightmare.

“They booked business class, they booked diving trips, they booked all sorts of really cool things to do together to kind of reconnect,” says Meagan Grabst of her parent’s dream vacation.

But the unthinkable happened on Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. While scuba diving, her stepdad Glenn Boyd had trouble breathing and drowned before he could reach the surface.

Three weeks later, Grabst’s mom, Christine Boyd, is still in Mexico fighting to get her husband’s ashes and death certificate.

“She’s basically stuck there now,” says Grabst.

Glenn was cremated at a Mexican funeral home and there is a $6,500 fee to get his ashes and death certificate released.

The money has been transferred to the home, but the bank warns it could take 10 business days for the funds to clear, leaving Christine in the country for a few more weeks.

“She doesn’t want to leave without him,” says Grabst.