TOTTENHAM midfielder Wilson Palacios flew home to Honduras yesterday after hearing that his teenage brother, kidnapped 18 months ago, had been found dead.

There had been no sighting of Edwin Rene Palacios, a Honduran under-17 player, since he was taken by armed men in October 2007, when he was 16. His body was found buried in a mountain area 170 miles from the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa. The family was thought to have paid a $500,000 ransom, but Edwin was not released.

Palacios, 24, was told of the discovery at the Liverpool hotel where Spurs were staying at 1am yesterday, but he did not tell manager Harry Redknapp until 7am.

Redknapp said: ‘The kid sat in the lobby with his case packed all that time, which is unbelievable. He said he did not want to wake me. That’s the kind of lad he is. He is one of the most respectful kids I have ever known. We organised for him to be driven back to London so he could get a flight home. Things like that bring everything into focus.’

It is the second family tragedy to affect Tottenham recently. Two weeks ago striker Jermain Defoe was left out of a match at the last minute after the death of his half-brother Jade, who was beaten to death in a street fight in London.