Spanish authorities have concluded the death of a 30‑year‑old British father in Benidorm was accidental, prompting anger from his family who say elements of the case — including an attempted use of his bank card after his body was found — warranted a homicide investigation.
Nathan Osman was discovered at the foot of a remote cliff on the outskirts of the Spanish resort last September after joining friends on a short trip, but his relatives say the initial police response was inadequate and the inquiry ignored key evidence. The family said Spanish investigators told them "all paths of evidence have been closed," a decision they described as "upsetting and frustrating."
The family compiled a detailed timeline of Osman's movements from the moment he left the UK and submitted it in both English and Spanish to Spanish police, the head prosecutor and the judge handling the case, they said. According to relatives, CCTV from local businesses showed Osman walking "very calm and collected" while following directions on his phone; he was later found about a 50‑minute walk from that last sighting.
Osman, a father of four, had joined the holiday at short notice and spent the evening of September 27 drinking with friends before returning toward his hotel alone, his brother Lee Evans told reporters. The next morning his bed had not been slept in, and an off‑duty officer discovered his body later that day, according to the family.
At an inquest held in October, senior coroner Graeme Hughes said Osman suffered traumatic brain injuries after a fall from the cliff and that an autopsy detected no recreational drugs in his system. "He drank quite rarely and has never used recreational drugs. His autopsy revealed that there were no drugs in his system," Hughes said at the hearing.
Relatives said valuables were missing from Osman when he was found and that someone attempted to use his bank card at a shop near the site where his body was recovered the following morning. Those details prompted the family to press Spanish authorities for a renewed probe; the head prosecutor, they said, was receptive when the family presented their findings in March and indicated detectives would take the matters seriously. The case was formally reopened in May, according to the family, but police have now told them the investigation has been closed and the death is being treated as accidental.
"The official report was based only on an overview and assumptions and no hard facts," Lee Evans said, adding that the family believed Osman would not have made the hour‑long walk alone in the opposite direction to his hotel and suspect he was taken to the cliff by taxi or against his will. Evans said the family will continue to pursue legal avenues and has been in contact with other relatives of people who have died abroad in similar circumstances.
Spanish police have not publicly detailed the reasons for concluding the death was accidental. Media reports and family statements indicate the authorities examined CCTV, witness accounts and the autopsy results during the inquiry. The family say they provided a comprehensive timeline — down to the last sighting on local cameras — and sought a fuller criminal probe.
Osman's relatives said they feel "abandoned" by the authorities as the anniversary of his death approaches and want to ensure his children are told that everything possible was done to find out what happened to their father. They said they will not give up seeking answers and justice.
Requests for comment to Spain's Policía Nacional and the provincial prosecutor's office were not immediately responded to. British consular officials normally provide support to families in cases involving deaths abroad; it was not clear from family statements what specific consular assistance had been provided in this case.
The family's public account of events has been reported by several outlets and followed by renewed appeals for transparency in investigations of foreigners' deaths abroad. Their statements underline tensions that can arise when relatives seek further inquiries after local authorities close investigations on medical or circumstantial grounds.