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The Sun
4 days ago
- The Sun
My son had the dream life in Spain – then a phone call changed everything, I may never get the answers I need
A YEAR ago, Sandra Adams received a call that will haunt her for the rest of her life. She was on her way home from work on 22 July last year and she says at that moment her old life ended. 6 6 She was told that her only son Brett Dryden, had been found dead at his home in Spain. While Sandra says that at times the grief is unbearable, she is kept going by her quest for the truth about the circumstances of his death. She is driven by a burning sense of injustice, because she believes police bungled the initial investigation and Brett's death remains a mystery- one she is determined to solve. Brett seemingly had the perfect life in the sun. The 35-year-old father-of-one, originally from County Durham, moved to Spain in 2019 with his partner. They had a daughter. The relationship didn't work out and the couple split but Brett stayed in Spain to build his business and remained a doting father. He lived in the laid-back Spanish seaside town of Mojácar in the province of Almería where he ran a legal cannabis club called The Dawg House. Sandra, from Chester-Le-Street, says: 'When he moved, I was devastated but it was his choice. 'He had an amazing life there. He loved it. He had loads of friends and said he would never move back.' But that dream life ended on July 22 last year, the day Sandra received a call from one of Brett's friends in Spain who had found his body in his villa. 'I couldn't believe what I was hearing,' she says. Tributes Pour In for Father-of-Three Who Tragically Died in Benidorm 'My world caved in, I was in utter disbelief and I'm still in shock today.' In a daze, Sandra, a carer, 56, and her husband and Brett's stepdad Rob flew to Spain that day. One of the friends who found Brett claimed he'd overheard the Spanish police known as the Guardia Civil saying they believed Brett had been struck in the head with an axe. However, the friends had been allowed to walk through the villa several times, which was potentially a murder scene. A post-mortem was performed the following day. It concluded Brett died of a pulmonary embolism, caused by a blood clot in his lungs. The case was closed. 'They said it was a terrible accident. He fell and banged his head,' Sandra explains. She was immediately sceptical. Rob had taken photos and video of blood stains in several locations around the property. Her suspicions were further raised when she went to see her son's body. 6 6 'He was in the chapel of rest, and there was a huge wound in the side of his head,' she recalls. 'I knew in my gut that something was not right. He had other visible injuries. To me it looked like there had been a struggle.' The family have only recently been given details of what was contained in the full Spanish autopsy report. They hired a Spanish lawyer who gained access to official documents in the case. According to him, the autopsy report detailed injuries to Brett's legs, arms, head and neck and fingernail marks, cuts and bruises on his face. There were nail wounds to his lips and neck. There was also a four-centimetre wound to his head and bruising to his ear, eye and skull on his left side. Pathologists found internal bleeding to the right side of his head and 'intense encephalic congestion' - an injury resulting in the brain's blood vessels becoming swollen and congested. The report also reveals police had admitted to pathologists that Brett had been the victim of a home invasion. The report stated: 'During the examination signs of a struggle were observed on the body such as droplets of blood in various locations on the body.' Despite all this the autopsy also said there was cocaine in Brett's system and concluded this was what triggered the pulmonary embolism and within a day of the original postmortem the case was closed. Still raw and in shock at their loss, Sandra and Rob did their own digging. They discovered several of Brett's personal belongings were missing including his mobile phone, his wallet and his designer sunglasses. In the days after his death Sandra used Brett's MacBook to track the missing iPhone which was still being used and pinged at several locations in the nearby town of Vera. She showed the police. Four days after Brett's death, with so many unanswered questions, a local court ordered the police to reopen the case and treat it as a homicide investigation. Sandra believes cops were hoping to sweep the death under the carpet to protect the reputation of the area, which relies on tourism. 'If they could have covered it up, they would have done,' claims Sandra. In addition to the phone location, the Adams also discovered potential CCTV evidence after Rob knocked on neighbours' doors looking for video footage. Sandra explains: 'One neighbour confirmed they had footage but under Spanish law they're not allowed to give the CCTV footage to anybody but the police, who now have the footage. 'We haven't seen it but our lawyer has seen reference to it in the police reports, which he says clearly shows two people leaving Brett's villa the day he died. 'He says the people were carrying what appeared to be the same type of bag Brett used to carry the takings from his club. 'What's more, the manager of Brett's club also told police that he was on the phone to Brett before he died and that Brett cut the conversation short with the words: 'I've got to go, they're here.'' Where to seek grief support Need professional help with grief? Child Bereavement UK Cruse Bereavement Relate The Good Grief Trust You can also always speak to your GP if you're struggling. You're Not Alone Check out these books, podcasts and apps that all expertly navigate grief… Griefcast: Cariad Lloyd interviews comedians on this award-winning podcast. The Madness Of Grief by Rev Richard Coles (£9.99, W&N): The Strictly fave writes movingly on losing his husband David to alcoholism. Terrible, Thanks For Asking: Podcast host Nora McInerny encourages non-celebs to share how they're really feeling. Good Mourning by Sally Douglas and Imogen Carn (£14.99, Murdoch Books): A guide for people who've suffered sudden loss, like the authors who both lost their mums. Grief Works: Download this for daily meditations and expert tips. How To Grieve Like A Champ by Lianna Champ (£3.99, Red Door Press): A book for improving your relationship with death. Sandra now believes that people who knew Brett tried to rob him, and that he fought back and was killed. 'He was only a little chap,' she says. 'He was five foot five and a half. But I know he wouldn't have let anybody come into his house and not defended himself. 'I just don't understand how we're nearly a year on and no further forward.' After Brett's body was repatriated, UK authorities held their own autopsy. The results have yet to be released. 'When we get those details, we can compare them with the Spanish postmortem report,' says Sandra. 'If I didn't have this to fight for, I don't think I'd be was my only son. 'When I had him, I wasn't with his dad, so it was me and him until I met Rob. 'He was a great boy. He was always smiling. He had a really good heart. He was happy-go-lucky and he would help anybody if he could.' Sandra says Brett's daughter is struggling to cope with the loss. 'She's a really brave little girl,' says Sandra. 'She talks about her daddy openly, but she talks about him as if he is still here. She misses him terribly because they were really close.' And when Sandra was diagnosed with early-stage womb cancer in 2023 and needed a hysterectomy, Brett was there to support his doting mum. On the anniversary of his death the family will fly out to Spain to remember him. Brett's daughter, his sister, Shannon and his aunt and his nieces and nephews will be there. 'I am going to lay flowers up at the villa,' says Sandra. ''We will go to Zeppelin Bar where he spent most of his nights with his friends and where I'm going to raise a glass to him. 'I'm going to make it a celebration of his life. I'm not dreading it because I feel close to him out there. I feel at peace there.' But until she's satisfied that she knows what happened, Sandra remains in limbo. The family have set up a Go Fund Me page to help with their legal costs. 'I want justice, I want to know what happened and I want the police to take accountability for the mess they made of it because they clearly tried to cover it up in the beginning,' she says. 'I'm going to keep talking about it and keep looking for answers because I need to keep the case out there, and to let the authorities, and whoever did it, know that I'm not going away.' A court spokesman previously said of the case: 'The investigation hasn't been suspended or closed. It is still open, and this incident remains under investigation. "The court is waiting for the Guardia Civil to complete their full report and present their conclusions. For the time being there's nothing more we can say.' The Sun reached out to the Guardia Civil for comment. 'I'm hoping that they do find who did this,' says Sandra. 'I would hate for anybody to go through what we're going through. It's hell on earth every single day. 'He was my only son. I don't think I'll ever come to terms with it. I think I'll cry every day for his loss. I navigate through my grief. I'm doing the best I can. He deserves justice.' 6 6
Daily Mail
29-06-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Spanish cops said my son died of a blood clot... but his apartment was covered in bloody handprints and his head was sliced open
A British couple whose son died in Spain in mysterious circumstances have released footage of his blood-stained home because they believe he was murdered. Father-of-one Brett Dryden, 35, was found dead at his home in Mojácar on the Costa de Almeria on July 21, 2024, after failing to return from an afternoon nap. The former Nissan factory worker had a large four-centimetre-long gash above his right eye and the walls and furniture were covered in bloody handprints, which MailOnline can show for the first time. Brett's home had also been burglarised, with his phone, wallet, designer Gucci sunglasses and car keys all missing. Even the autopsy report, carried out the day after his body was found by friends, mentions that 'signs of a struggle were observed in the home, as well as bloodstains in several locations'. It also notes that the 'Judicial Police later reported that his home had been robbed'. But despite those details, the postmortem ruled that the death was caused by acute alveolar hemorrhage - a condition in which bleeding occurs into the air sacs of the lungs. The medical examiners who carried out the autopsy claimed it was triggered by a pulmonary embolism caused by the use of cocaine and cannabis - and the case was closed the same day. The case was shut a day after Brett's death following an autopsy, despite his apartment being streaked with blood on almost every surface But Brett's mother Sandra Adams, 56, from Chester-le-Street in County Durham, has now repatriated her son's body and ordered a new autopsy in the hopes of getting fresh answers. She believes there are a number of aspects that suggest there was foul play at work in her son's death - and is raising money through GoFundMe to fight for justice. The grieving mother told MailOnline: 'They claimed he fell and bashed his head. With a pulmonary embolism it's not a quick death, there was blood all over his villa, there was bloody handprints - the only reason we know that is my husband went into the villa and took photos of it all.' After Brett's possessions were reported missing by Sandra four days after Brett's death, a local court ordered the police to reopen the case as a homicide investigation. Around a week after Brett's body was found, Sandra's husband Rob Adams, 53, was able to source CCTV footage of the street outside Brett's house, which was sent direct to the local Guardia. The video evidence showed two men running away from Brett's home with a bag. It was the same bag that Brett was earlier seen leaving his bar with - leaving Sandra to believe it contained the bar's previous night's takings. The case report, which Sandra was only able to access in the last few weeks after hiring a Spanish lawyer, also notes that the faces of the men on the CCTV were visible. Brett's MacBook was also still attached to his phone and using the Find My iPhone app, Sandra was able to see that it was still in use. She said: 'I went on and it was in Vera and kept pinging in different locations but kept going back to a certain house. The Guardia said "We know" but didn't seem that interested.' The family also found out that around 1pm on the day Brett died, he had been on the phone with his colleague but had ended the call abruptly with the words: 'I've got to go, they're here'. Brett managed a cannabis bar in Mojácar, where he had lived for five-and-a-half years, having originally moved there with his then-girlfriend when his daughter Charlie was three months old. Sandra said: 'Brett was very adventurous and outdoorsy. He loved to travel and try different foods. He was a good dad and he adored his daughter.' The family went to Disneyland Paris in February for Brett's daughter Charley's fifth birthday and the year before he went to Ibiza with his mother after she was diagnosed with cancer. Sandra said: 'He came home to the UK a lot and Facetimed us all the time. 'He was so kind. The lady next door to where he lived told us that Brett put up her television for her and described him as a 'lovely boy'. He also bought a blanket and food and 10 euros for a homeless guy. 'He didn't have any enemies, he was only little - he would never look for trouble but he could look after himself. We used to say 'you have little man syndrome' because he was only 5ft 6½in.' Brett's mother Sandra said her son (pictured) regularly returned to the UK to visit family and frequently Facetimed with her and stepdad Rob Sandra believes that the previous week's takings from the bar - as much as £6,000 - may have been stolen from his home, while Brett's car door was also open with his keys missing - despite usually parking at the back of his property. She said: 'I asked the police do they have his sunglasses, phone, wallet and they said "yeah yeah yeah". 'We went to see him in the funeral home and I just got this gut feeling that it wasn't an accident, it wasn't natural causes. 'Before I went to see him we were going to have him cremated because Spain was his home, but once I saw him I decided to repatriate him for another autopsy to be done. 'We went to court for Brett's body to be released, but in between that time I noticed they didn't have his phone, wallet, sunglasses. They asked the code for his phone, and it was for his old phone, a Samsung, whereas I knew he had an iPhone.' Police also let two of Brett's friends twice walk through the crime scene to get his dog, an XL Bully. Sandra described the devastation of hearing the news of Brett's death while she was on her way back from her job. She said: 'I was driving home from work and Rob rang me at 10.10pm and he was hysterical. 'He said "Did you see the call from Brett's friend?" I'd spoken to Brett in the morning. He was well and happy and his normally bubbly self. To get that call to say he had passed away was devastating.' The day after Brett's passing, a newspaper in Spain published a story claiming that it was a violent death on June 22 and that it looked like he had been struck in the head by an axe - but two days later the same paper ran a story reporting that it was actually a pulmonary embolism. The family flew over to Spain. The Guardia told Sandra that Brett had actually had a pulmonary embolism. However, the autopsy describes a 5cm x 4cm wound to the 'right side of his head, above his eye' with 'irregular, crescent-shaped edges on the forehead, transverse to the axis of the right eyebrow.' Sandra said: 'On Brett's birthday we went to lay flowers and a lady said I'm really sorry for your loss, he was a lovely boy, please keep going - don't stop, they are trying to cover it up. 'Then another woman stopped to say Brett had helped to put her telly up and to keep fighting.' Earlier this year Sandra and her husband Rob Adams, Brett's stepfather, returned to Spain with a plan to hold a protest outside Mojacar town hall in their quest for justice. However, they had to cancel the event after police told them it would be illegal without applying for a license 40 days prior. Instead Sandra and Rob, along with 20 others including Brett's sister Shannon, 31, Brett's daughter Charley, 6, his aunt and two nephews celebrated what would have been Brett's 36th birthday with a memorial walk in the village. Brett's best friend Luke also flew in from Derby. Sandra said: 'We were going out to do a protest on his birthday at the town hall - but we got a call on the 10th from the police captain who asked to meet. He said there was rules and regulations about holding a protest. 'We met on the 11th and he said you have to apply for a license from a government of Almeria. The only time we've been shown any empathy. 'He said you can still wear your t-shirts and do a walk along the pier and we laid flowers up at the villa for Brett's birthday.' Sandra and her supporters have also made plans to return to Mojacar on July 21, the anniversary of Brett's death, for a legal protest to try and force the hand of local law enforcement. She said: 'We've had no news. They say "It's a closed case and we can't tell you anything". 'When I went to collect the autopsy report, they were trying everything possible to delay handing off the results. 'It's just proved that they probably were going to try and brush it under the carpet. 'We were told "Don't go to the papers, it will harm your case." But we need to get it out there, when we were there some of Brett's neighbours drove past and said "Please don't stop, keep going." Sandra has since repatriated Brett's body back to the UK and is now awaiting the results of a new autopsy carried out at the family's expense. The family have also engaged a lawyer in Spain to look into the case and have investigated the possibility of hiring a private investigator to try and uncover the truth of what happened. Speaking to the Northern Echo in February, Sandra said: 'All I know is somebody hurt my boy and if it's the last thing I do in my life I will get justice. 'It's terrible to not have any answers all this time later. I try not to imagine what happened because I would just crumble. 'I just want to know what's happened to my boy and then maybe I can move on with my life.' Spanish police were unable to be reached for comment. A court spokesman previously said: 'The investigation hasn't been suspended or closed. It is still open and this incident remains under investigation. 'The court is waiting for the Civil Guard to complete their full report and present their conclusions. For the time being there's nothing more we can say.'
