Source: Herald

U.S. diplomat Keith Ryan, the son of Boston Globe sports columnist Bob Ryan, was found dead at his home in Pakistan yesterday, a day before he was due to fly back to the States.

Keith C. Ryan, 37, a father of three who was a Homeland Security attache at the U.S. embassy in Islamabad, apparently shot himself in the head, Pakistani police told news agencies. U.S. officials said foul play is not suspected, but an investigation is ongoing. A Pakistani newspaper, the News of Islamabad, citing sources on the post-mortem results, later reported that evidence suggests Ryan may have been murdered.

Ryan had finished a yearlong tour as Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s liaison, said ICE spokeswoman Kelly Nantel. “Everyone at ICE is deeply saddened. He was a consummate professional, and he will be sorely missed. He was a critical member of our team in the embassy.”

She declined to discuss his duties at the embassy. Ryan, a Hingham native, is survived by his wife, Kate, and their triplets, who spent the past year apart from Ryan in the United States. He joined the federal government in 1996 after graduating from Boston College Law School. An international law expert, he had been a U.S. Coast Guard officer and a Border Patrol agent. His father, one of the Globe’s leading sports columnists, was in Phoenix to cover the Super Bowl and left upon receiving word of his son’s death.

“I know that we join everyone who knows Bob in expressing our deepest sorrow at his loss,” said Globe publisher Steven Ainsley.

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Tags: Homeland Security attache, sports columnist Bob Ryan, U.S. diplomat Keith Ryan