Liam Payne: Full timeline of star's final moments in Argentina following heartbreaking death

1 month ago 6

One Direction star Liam Payne tragically died after plunging to his death from a third-floor balcony in his hotel room in Argentina on Wednesday evening.

The former X Factor star suffered "very serious injuries incompatible with life" following his fall at the Casa Sur Palermo hotel just after 5pm local time.

The circumstances leading up to his death are still under investigation, reports the Mirror.

The late star is survived by his loved ones and seven-year-old son Bear, whom he welcomed with ex Cheryl.

In an official statement given to The Associated Press, Argentinian police disclosed that the father-of-one had "jumped from the balcony of his room", apparently dispelling any notions of an accidental fall or foul play.

Liam was 31 years old at the time of his demise. Here, the Daily Record takes a look at his final days in Argentina, mapping out his movements before his tragic death.

Holidaying with girlfriend

Liam Payne attented his One Direction bandmate Niall Horan's concert with his girlfriend just days before his death ( Image: Snapchat)

September 20 : Liam and girlfriend Kate Cassidy arrived in Argentina for a five-day holiday, which lasted two weeks. The pair shared clips on Snapchat of their break, he told fans: "This is the breakfast table, just enjoying breakfast and coffee even though it's 1pm."

He also revealed they'd been staying at a friend's home, whilst Kate could be heard in the background joking that they were 'losers' for laying in.

Liam said: "Today, we ride. I think I'm going to be playing polo again, which is going to put me out of action for about six weeks."

Reunion with Niall

Liam reunited with Niall shortly before his death ( Image: Snapchat)

October 2 : Liam went to see his former bandmate Niall Horen whilst in Argentina. In a clip captioned 'We're going to Argentina to see Nialler', he told Snapchat followers: "Niall Horan is playing down there and I think we might just go to say hello. It's been a while since me and Niall have spoken. We've got a lot to talk about. And I would like to square up a couple of things up with the boy." He added: "No bad vibes or anything like that. But just … we need to talk."

Liam got his wish when he and Kate attended Niall's gig at the Movistar Arena, describing the show as 'lovely'. Liam documented the evening with plenty of pics and videos, and appeared overjoyed as he sang and danced the night away.

In one bittersweet snap, captioned 'reunited', Liam and Niall posed together, with the pals appearing delighted. In the text of another pic, Liam praised his 1D alum, writing: "So happy I got to see Niall in concert."

Haunting videos with fans

Liam greeted beloved fans in Argentina and signed their T-shirts ( Image: jazgalaschi /instagram)

From October 2 : Fans of the late star have shared eerie videos of his final days and hours as he greeted them during his trip. One well-wisher who got to meet him posted on Instagram on October 2: "Totally unreal this. I love you Liam! A dream come true! What a love you are."

Another TikTok video shows the star meeting fans outside his hotel. He appears unsteady on his feet as he tells one fan, "That was a really big squeeze". In another, he poses for a photo before he furrows his brow and looks down.

Another clip shows Liam signing an autograph for a woman and asking the crowd for a 'pen' because he doesn't have one. When they reply 'lapicera' in Spanish, he jokes: "I feel like you're trying to make me say something rude."

Girlfriend returns home

Kate Cassidy returned home to Florida days before Liam's death

October 12 : Liam's girlfriend Kate returns home to Florida after two weeks away, leaving Liam in Argentina.

She tells her TikTok followers: "I was so ready to leave. Love South America, but I hate staying in one place for too long and we were supposed to be there for five days, turned into two weeks and I was just like, 'I need to go home'."

Checks into hotel

October 13 : It's been claimed that Liam had checked into the deluxe Casa Sur Hotel suite alone three days before he died. According to local news reports, he was asked to leave his previous hotel.

Mystery hotel women

October 15 : Two mystery women were spotted with Liam the night before he died and didn't leave the hotel where he died life until the day of the tragedy, it has been claimed. An Argentinian journalist has claimed the pair have been located and questioned by police and prosecutors and partially named them on a national TV programme.

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Prosecutors confirmed they had questioned five people, including two women who had been with Liam in the hours before his death for a "reconstruction of his last hours", she added: "He was with two women in his room where there was access to drugs. I'm not going to say their surnames.

"[Woman A] gave a statement last night and [Woman B] has just finished hers." The Daily Record has chosen not to name the women at present. The women are said to have left the hotel before Liam plunged to his death and have been categorised as "key witnesses" in local media reports, rather than suspects in his death.

Last Snapchats

Liam Payne on Snapchat

October 16 : Liam's last picture on his Snapchat story was a picture taken in the mirror with his girlfriend Kate. It's believed the photos were taken a few days prior, as she was back in Florida when they were posted.

Liam spent his final nights alive paying into GoFundMe accounts for sick children live on Snapchat. The father-of-one said being a parent seeing poorly youngsters "hit differently". He said: "As a father, it hits me differently. I would want everyone in the world helping. I have been spending the last few nights trying to finish off the donations so they can get the operations they need - they would be free in my country.

"I can't look at a sick child and not see Bear. I can't and I won't. I'm not asking for people to say well done or I'm amazing - I don't give a f*** about what people think of me." He added: "What I care about is that that child gets to live the life it's supposed to."

Final photo

Hours before : A tragic final photo shows Liam entering the Casa Sur Hotel in the upmarket Palermo district, where just hours later, he would fall to his death from the third floor.

'Out of place' behaviour

Hours before : A woman - known under the pseudonym Rebecca - had a half-hour chat with Liam in the hotel lobby described him as "desperate" to be recognised.

She said he announced himself, unprompted, shouting "I'm Liam", to a queue of guests waiting for the lift, who weren't "bothered" about who he was. She said that Liam returned to the lobby with his laptop.

Suspecting that he'd spotted an email that "upset" him, Rebecca said: "Suddenly he took the computer, shouted 'f**k this s**t mate!' and started bashing the computer on the ground." The singer's "out of place" behaviour "shocked" onlookers in the "high-end" hotel, but concerned, Rebecca said she asked him if he was OK.

She explained: "But he just kind of grunted. Then he said 'I used to be in a boyband. That's why I'm so f**ked up'." Shocked at his admission, she saw him get back in the lift, before a "British guy" apologised to the group on "his behalf", saying Liam "gets so high" sometimes. She added that he fell over when he returned to the lobby, with staff helping him in to the lift.

Just hours before his sad death, he told his close friend, Jodie Richards - who was his former performing arts teacher at Pink Productions - that he was having a "chilled-out morning" and showed "no cause for concern". She spoke to the "one-of-a-kind" star on Wednesday and initially thought news reports of his death were "fake".

The 41-year-old had been texting Liam hours earlier and said she then desperately tried to call and message him. She said: "He was looking forward to his day, he said he was having a chill, nothing seemed out of the ordinary", Jodie explained. "He's always somewhere more glamorous than we are so LA, Argentina, I have to look at the time difference to see where he is, he usually texts me and it's the middle of our night. He seemed fine, he looked happy, he looked healthy - no reason for any kind of concern and then obviously I heard it on the news." Speaking to Sky News, she added: "I thought it was fake news, I tried to phone him. Obviously he wasn't answering. I tried to text him, it wasn't going to a 'read' message - normally it does quite quickly, then as I turned the telly on it was getting more and more apparent it wasn't fake."

Desperate 911 call

Moments before : It's thought the 31-year-old had been under the influence of alcohol or drugs, local media reports. In a desperate call made to emergency services, hotel staff requested 'urgent' support, with a receptionist telling the phone operator: "We have a guest who's off his head on drugs and is destroying everything in his room. We need someone to come."

After the line disconnected, the receptionist continued: "I don't know if the guest's life is in danger. The room has a balcony and we are afraid he might do something." Then just seconds later, the receptionist made the following heartbreaking clarification: "Just send an ambulance. Only an ambulance."

Witnesses close to the hotel have claimed that Liam had endured a "psychotic episode" in the moments leading up to his death. An office worker who was close to the Casa Sur hotel claimed that the on-site masseuse said Liam was acting erratically.

Josefina, a One Direction fan told América TV: "I was working in an office next to the hotel when we started hearing lots of sirens and lots of noise. A colleague went down to see what was happening and was able to speak to the hotel masseuse who said there was a man being aggressive who was breaking things and was having what appeared to be a psychotic episode and looked like he was out of it on drugs."

'Violent' noises

Moments before : Those who were staying in the hotel described hearing "loud" and "violent" noises coming from Liam's room before his death. Speaking to the BBC shortly after the shocking incident, fellow hotel guest Doug Jones said: "I thought they were working on the room. There was a lot of noise, like heavy lifting, like banging, a lot of loud, violent noises, I thought."

Doug then saw hotel staff going into the suite where Liam Payne is believed to have been staying. He added: "I saw hotel people going in and out of that room, so I thought they were doing work on the room." However the loud noises returned, "So about 4pm, 4.30pm, I started hearing some more noise, I was still doing work," he said. "I heard a really loud, violent scream around 4.45pm, 5pm."

The police arrived just before 5pm, but reported hearing a loud bang from the courtyard as they arrived, at 5.04pm. A short while later, the tourist saw the "road full of cops," as the full tragedy on Wednesday evening began to unfold.

A search of Liam's hotel room uncovered "what appeared to be narcotics, alcohol, destroyed objects and furniture", according to detectives. Photos purporting to show inside the room where Liam spent his final hours have been confirmed by news outlets including La Nacion and Clarin.

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