The father of former One Direction star Liam Payne arrived in Buenos Aires on Friday to arrange for the return of his son’s body to England two days after the famous boy band singer fell to his death from a hotel balcony.

After landing at the Buenos Aires International Airport in the early morning hours, Geoff Payne was photographed emerging in a blue suit from a downtown hotel accompanied by British consular officials. He was hustled by security officers into a sleek van with black-tinted windows.

Payne visited the Buenos Aires morgue to identify his son’s body before heading to the local prosecutor’s office, which is investigating the case as a matter of protocol, to organize the repatriation of his son’s remains, Argentine authorities said. He later stopped at the Casa Sur Hotel where Payne died to collect his son’s belongings, where throngs of distraught Argentines had gathered for the third straight day to pay their respects.

A chain of young fans with linked arms maintained effective crowd control as Payne squeezed past the flowers, photos and hand-written cards piled outside the hotel in tribute to his son. He paused at the makeshift memorial, leaning down to pick up a photo of Liam before thanking everyone and disappearing into the hotel.

“I felt sick to my stomach because I couldn’t say goodbye to him,” said Mara Dorf, one of the fans at the scene.

It’s the first time that any of Payne’s family members have been seen publicly since the star’s sudden death, which set off a global outpouring of grief and emotion from major pop industry figures and diehard One Direction fans. The shock hit particularly hard at home, with his family saying in a statement hours after his death that they “are heartbroken.”

“Liam will forever live in our hearts and we’ll remember him for his kind, funny and brave soul,” it said. “We are supporting each other the best we can as a family and ask for privacy and space at this awful time.”