Investigators examining the deaths of an Irish couple at a holiday villa near Valencia are increasingly focusing on the possibility that they died in a tragic accident.
The couple, aged 50 and 45, were found unresponsive in a jacuzzi at their rented property in Cullera on Tuesday afternoon. Their teenage children made the discovery and raised the alarm.
The Guardia Civil’s specialist Homicide Judicial Police team launched an investigation after officers encountered circumstances suggesting the deaths might not have been natural. However, new evidence has reportedly reduced suspicions that another person was involved.
Investigators found no signs of forced entry and no indication that any rooms inside the villa had been searched or disturbed. Security-camera footage from the property is also understood to show no evidence of a third person entering.
Although several possibilities remain under consideration, accidental death is now reportedly the main line of investigation.
One theory is that one member of the couple suffered a medical emergency or collapsed while in or near the jacuzzi. Investigators are considering whether the other person attempted to provide assistance before also dying.
Such a sequence of events could potentially explain some of the minor injuries found during the initial examination of the bodies. However, this remains only a hypothesis and has not been confirmed.
Officers are continuing to analyse biological material and blood traces collected from around the jacuzzi. Samples were also taken from its cloudy water and sent for laboratory testing.
Earlier reports referred to injuries that initially appeared to resemble puncture marks, raising questions about possible substance use. However, investigators have not established that drugs caused or contributed to the deaths.
Toxicology tests are expected to determine whether any substances were present and whether they played a part in the tragedy.
The bodies were transferred to Valencia’s Institute of Legal Medicine, where forensic experts are carrying out detailed examinations. The autopsy and toxicology results will be crucial in establishing whether the couple died because of a medical emergency, an accident connected with the jacuzzi, substance consumption or another factor.
No official cause of death has yet been announced, and the Guardia Civil investigation remains open.
The involvement of the Homicide Judicial Police does not mean officers believe the couple were murdered. The specialist unit was called in because two unexplained deaths at the same property required a thorough investigation.
Meanwhile, three relatives travelled from Ireland after being informed of the tragedy, arriving in Spain during the early hours of Wednesday. The couple’s teenage children have now been reunited with their family.
Local social services and psychologists provided support to the children after they discovered their parents. The Spanish Red Cross also activated a psychosocial emergency response team.
Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs is also providing consular assistance to the family.
Investigators are now awaiting the forensic and laboratory results before reaching any definitive conclusions. Nevertheless, the absence of forced entry, signs of disturbance or evidence of another person entering the villa has shifted attention away from the more sinister possibilities initially considered.
The precise events surrounding the couple’s final moments remain unclear, but investigators may now be closer to explaining how their family holiday ended in tragedy.
SEE ALSO: Children find Irish parents dead at their Valencian Holiday Villa
