A New Zealand man and his Irish wife who were found dead at a Spanish holiday villa last week may have suffered cardiac failure after becoming trapped in a spa pool, according to local media.
Patrick Tobin, 48, and Thomasina McArdle, 51, died at a holiday property in Cullera, near Valencia, last Tuesday.
According to local newspaper Las Provincias, the London-based couple were on a two-week family holiday at the holiday villa with their two teenage children, aged 14 and 16.
They were reportedly found dead by their two children — both who had special needs — next to the villa's spa pool.
Investigators were now reportedly focusing on a possible fault with the spa pool's suction system, which may have trapped the couple in the water.
Tobin and McArdle were believed to have struggled to free themselves, with scratches found on their bodies reportedly consistent with attempts to escape.
Investigators were considering whether the physical exertion and acute stress of the incident could have triggered fatal cardiac arrests.
Las Provincias reported autopsies had found no evidence another person was involved in the deaths or that the couple had assaulted each other. However, the exact causes of their deaths were yet to be confirmed.
Further testing was being carried out, with blood, urine and tissue samples sent to Spain's National Institute of Toxicology and Forensic Sciences.
The newspaper also reported the couple's two children were at the villa for more than 12 hours without realising their parents had died.
The teenagers, who had mostly been in their rooms, began looking for their parents after they failed to respond and eventually discovered their bodies outside the spa pool.
They then sought help from the property's owner, who lived at another home nearby, and contacted emergency services.
Tobin was a New Zealand citizen who had lived in the United Kingdom for about 26 years.
1News has contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) for comment.
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