THE family of Stourbridge man Ben Owen who died in a US detention facility have spoken of their shock at the news of his untimely and unexplained death.

Ben, aged 39, was confirmed to have died after he was found unresponsive while in the custody of US Immigration and Enforcement (ICE) at the Baker County Detention Center in Macclenny, Florida, on January 25.

American authorities say the cause of death was self strangulation and that Ben had been taken into ICE custody on January 15 after being released from jail in Volusia County - having been arrested on January 12 for aggravated stalking after injunction, false imprisonment, domestic assault and violating conditions following an earlier arrest.

They say these charges followed an arrest on November 17 for alleged domestic battery and that Ben was awaiting deportation proceedings - having entered the US on a visitor visa in July 2019, with permission to remain until December 10.

Ben's devastated sisters Bridey Jo Owen and Abbi Bettles say they knew nothing of the charges against their brother or his incarceration and they told the News he had been working in the US since the end of 2017.

He had been working as an electrician on the road with bands including Metallica - following in the footsteps of his sound engineer uncle Paul Owen, who has toured with some of the biggest names in rock.

While in the States he met and married American Tammy Jane in January 2019 and the couple had a daughter Gia just three months ago.

Bridey, aged 25, said: "We don't know why he was in that immigration facility in the first place. We believe he was in the process of going for his green card."

She said the family "were totally in the dark" and said the news of his death came as "such a shock".

She added: "We didn't know any of this. It's crazy."

The family are now desperate to bring Ben's body home and an online fundraising page has been set up to raise £5,000 to help with repatriation costs - and it has already hit its target.

Bridey said: "We're just really overwhelmed by the support we've received to get him home. We've had 200 donations in just five days and hit the target."

She said her brother, who also has a 22-month-old daughter Bonnie from a previous relationship, was "so loved by everybody" and added: "We're really devastated as a family and we're going to miss him so much."

It's not the first time the family have been hit by tragedy. In 2005 Ben's older brother Sam died of pneumonia aged just 26 and Bridey, who was just 10 at the time, said Ben never really got over his brother's untimely death.

She said she last spoke to him on January 9 and her sister Abbi had chatted with him on Christmas Day, when he seemed happy, and she said Ben and his wife had been due to celebrate their first wedding anniversary on the day he was found dead in his cell.