After a family member's life is taken away, most families are looking for a chance to pay their respects and have some questions answered.

In the case of William James Woodward, that closure seems more unlikely by the day.

On April 7, the Hamilton native who had lived in Brazil many years, was murdered in Macae, a city of about 200,000, 180 km north of Rio de Janeiro. He was 66.

"It is hard to get any answers," said son Matthew Shepley, whose father's body has been in a Rio de Janeiro morgue for more than two weeks now. "I tried to call the local police station but they hung up because of the language barrier."

Though expensive, the family agreed to pay $10,000 to return the body to Canada, where they expected to have him promptly laid to rest at his reserved Hamilton plot next to his brother and father.

Days later that number quickly escalated to $30,000, as the family was informed that the need for cremation of the body — a rarity in Brazil — caused legal hurdles and increasing costs.

Global Affairs Canada spokesperson Diana Khaddaj confirmed consular officials are providing the family assistance.

"As the family was faced with great obstacles and an outrageous cost burden, we needed to evaluate all the possible options," said Shepley. "Of course you always want to respect someone's wishes when it comes to their final resting place. Anything less leaves a certain amount of guilt."

It is still unclear what will happen with Woodward's body.

According to Shepley, Woodward grew up in Hamilton, serving as an auxiliary Hamilton police officer for about a year, and a police dispatcher for five years, before moving to British Columbia in 1976. After about 25 years working with B.C. Transit, he retired to Brazil.

He would spend 14 years there, moving from city to city, teaching English.

The police report indicates the incident was a homicide with unknown motive. The death certificate indicates Woodward died as a result of gunshot wounds. Those documents indicate he died somewhere between 1:30 and 2 p.m. on April 7.

According to a Brazilian Forum on Public Security Report, in 2014, 58,000 people were victims of homicide in Brazil.

Family are still unsure what happened, and are not sure how dedicated Brazilian police are to finding out. They have contacted friends of Woodward with conflicting reports indicating Woodward was shot either in or near his home where he lived with his partner and adopted son.

Though Woodward taught English, Shepley says he was considered politically active and a vocal critic of the Brazilian government, high crime rates and the militarization of police, particularly through an online forum of expats living in Brazil on expat.com.

In one post from March 12 , Woodward advises tourists to stay home rather than coming to the Olympics.

"Coming to the Olympics??? Two bits of advice, either buy a bulletproof vest or stay home," Woodward writes.

In a three-month-old comment on opendemocracy.net, Woodward writes "The Military Police in this country is a body that is completely out of control, and little better than the violent criminals that they're supposed to be protecting us from."

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Shepley hadn't seen his father in more than 20 years, and said his death has been unearthing a floodgate of emotions as he researched who his father was in Brazil. Shepley, 41, lives in Strathroy. Woodward's sister lives in Hamilton.

Shepley describes his dad as a crusader for a better life in his community.

"Unlike many on social media and the Internet, he did not hide behind a username or anonymous comments. He owned what he said … he had his name proudly attached to it."