SPAIN - Daniel, 46, & Liam Poole, 22, British tourists, Estepona, Malaga, 1 Apr 2019

Update:


Belongings found in hotel room
Passports included
Hire care been reported stolen, not found, purchased by them.

A hire did get was purchased. A Peugeot, has been reported stolen.Dad seen driving it from the hotel Tuesday morning.
Cctv footage confirms.

Tuesday morning. confirms my dad driving the Peugeot out of the Hotel car park, leaving the hotel Tuesday morning.

They were seen (and bank transactions) at a
restaurant/bar the Monday night.
Awaiting CCTV footage from the bar (assuming police already have it)

Lots of false sitings. No confirmed yet apart from in a cafe on the Monday afternoon.

No hard evidence to confirm exactly what they were doing in Spain. (referring to someone who asked) I can’t confirm with anything that they were going to look at property’s, cars, with any evidence.

Although I can tell you what my dad has told me, he went out there to look for a property which I trust.

Lack of media coverage has been advised by police in england as they are being led by the Spanish police. I have contacted most places online to get some sort of report out there.
Olive press is inaccurate The girlfriend of Liam and my dads Ex Partner Tara have not flown out to Spain.
Also information on the posts seems to be inaccurate, things we haven’t said etc although I can only speak for myself.


They came over to my house to explain this kind of information.
And they were keen to find out whether it was a possibility they done a runner for a set up of new life (which was speculated here aswell) Of course I expressed how highly unlikely I think this theory is.
English police inspector has been out to Spain to talk with Spanish police too. Has reassured us that a lot is going on to investigate, but passing on information, certain processes with finding out information is slower than the system we have here.

I would imagine if my dad and brother had any intent of crossing seas/borders they would have bought their Passports.
I’ve been told it wouldn’t be impossible to cross without them however I think if it was intended by my dad and Liam they would have bought them anyway, why not?

Again I would say yes we’ve hit some sort of dead end as mentioned above. But this is what I know.


Hi Lauryn, thanks for the update. This must be hard on you and your family.

So the last known sighting is on Tuesday morning.
Your father is seen leaving the hotel driving the car. Your brother is with him?
They left their belongings & passports in the hotel, meaning they intended to return and they were probably not going far.
The car has not been located either.
If they disappered with their car, it could have been an accident. Something may have happened on the way to a rural property.

If I understand you well, activities like hiking in the Sierra's, snorkling, diving and boating, all things like sports can be excluded?
 
Update:


Belongings found in hotel room
Passports included
Hire care been reported stolen, not found, purchased by them.

A hire did get was purchased. A Peugeot, has been reported stolen.Dad seen driving it from the hotel Tuesday morning.
Cctv footage confirms.

Tuesday morning. confirms my dad driving the Peugeot out of the Hotel car park, leaving the hotel Tuesday morning.

They were seen (and bank transactions) at a
restaurant/bar the Monday night.
Awaiting CCTV footage from the bar (assuming police already have it)

Lots of false sitings. No confirmed yet apart from in a cafe on the Monday afternoon.

No hard evidence to confirm exactly what they were doing in Spain. (referring to someone who asked) I can’t confirm with anything that they were going to look at property’s, cars, with any evidence.

Although I can tell you what my dad has told me, he went out there to look for a property which I trust.

Lack of media coverage has been advised by police in england as they are being led by the Spanish police. I have contacted most places online to get some sort of report out there.
Olive press is inaccurate The girlfriend of Liam and my dads Ex Partner Tara have not flown out to Spain.
Also information on the posts seems to be inaccurate, things we haven’t said etc although I can only speak for myself.


They came over to my house to explain this kind of information.
And they were keen to find out whether it was a possibility they done a runner for a set up of new life (which was speculated here aswell) Of course I expressed how highly unlikely I think this theory is.
English police inspector has been out to Spain to talk with Spanish police too. Has reassured us that a lot is going on to investigate, but passing on information, certain processes with finding out information is slower than the system we have here.

I would imagine if my dad and brother had any intent of crossing seas/borders they would have bought their Passports.
I’ve been told it wouldn’t be impossible to cross without them however I think if it was intended by my dad and Liam they would have bought them anyway, why not?

Again I would say yes we’ve hit some sort of dead end as mentioned above. But this is what I know.


Thank you Lauren....people want to help....this must be so confusing and horrific for you all, i'm so sorry.

From the really helpful info you've put above, it sounds like they were going somewhere on the Tuesday (last sighting driving away from the hotel). Possibly going to visit properties as you thought maybe that was an option? Wondering if the police in the UK have been able to access their phone and email records which might have some information useful to you?

Thank you again Lauren for the update, thinking of you all and hoping for a positive outcome x
 
Update:


Belongings found in hotel room
Passports included
Hire care been reported stolen, not found, purchased by them.

A hire did get was purchased. A Peugeot, has been reported stolen.Dad seen driving it from the hotel Tuesday morning.
Cctv footage confirms.

Tuesday morning. confirms my dad driving the Peugeot out of the Hotel car park, leaving the hotel Tuesday morning.

They were seen (and bank transactions) at a
restaurant/bar the Monday night.
Awaiting CCTV footage from the bar (assuming police already have it)

Lots of false sitings. No confirmed yet apart from in a cafe on the Monday afternoon.

No hard evidence to confirm exactly what they were doing in Spain. (referring to someone who asked) I can’t confirm with anything that they were going to look at property’s, cars, with any evidence.

Although I can tell you what my dad has told me, he went out there to look for a property which I trust.

Lack of media coverage has been advised by police in england as they are being led by the Spanish police. I have contacted most places online to get some sort of report out there.
Olive press is inaccurate The girlfriend of Liam and my dads Ex Partner Tara have not flown out to Spain.
Also information on the posts seems to be inaccurate, things we haven’t said etc although I can only speak for myself.


They came over to my house to explain this kind of information.
And they were keen to find out whether it was a possibility they done a runner for a set up of new life (which was speculated here aswell) Of course I expressed how highly unlikely I think this theory is.
English police inspector has been out to Spain to talk with Spanish police too. Has reassured us that a lot is going on to investigate, but passing on information, certain processes with finding out information is slower than the system we have here.

I would imagine if my dad and brother had any intent of crossing seas/borders they would have bought their Passports.
I’ve been told it wouldn’t be impossible to cross without them however I think if it was intended by my dad and Liam they would have bought them anyway, why not?

Again I would say yes we’ve hit some sort of dead end as mentioned above. But this is what I know.

Hey Lauryn,

Thanks so much for the updated info...

Sorry you and your family are going through this, I can’t even imagine...

I just wanted you to know that we at WS truly want to help, which is why the fb sideshow is not allowed here.

Hoping for answers for you soon x
 
Thank you, @Laurynpoole you must be relieved to have spoken to police properly and cleared a few things up. I agree they would have taken their passports if planning to cross a border. Is this timeline right, as far as you know, or is there anything to add?

Sunday 31st - Danny & Liam arrived in Spain, checked in to hotel
Monday 1st - visited a cafe in the afternoon, then a bar/restaurant in the evening, phoned home as normal
Tuesday 2nd - last seen on CCTV leaving hotel in Peugeot hire car

Basically, they've got to find the car. Anyone know if the area is likely to have much CCTV and/or ANPR cameras around?

A few more questions if you don't mind answering:

Where, in relation to their hotel, are the cafe (and is it the same as the previously mentioned internet cafe?), the bar/restaurant and the car hire place? Do you know how long the car was hired for? Did either of them discuss sightseeing plans with their other halves?

And do you think any of the sightings are likely to be them? I think one was in a bar, one in Gibraltar, one was Liam buying cigs at a petrol station etc etc.
 
Thank you, @Laurynpoole you must be relieved to have spoken to police properly and cleared a few things up. I agree they would have taken their passports if planning to cross a border. Is this timeline right, as far as you know, or is there anything to add?

Sunday 31st - Danny & Liam arrived in Spain, checked in to hotel
Monday 1st - visited a cafe in the afternoon, then a bar/restaurant in the evening, phoned home as normal
Tuesday 2nd - last seen on CCTV leaving hotel in Peugeot hire car

Basically, they've got to find the car. Anyone know if the area is likely to have much CCTV and/or ANPR cameras around?

A few more questions if you don't mind answering:

Where, in relation to their hotel, are the cafe (and is it the same as the previously mentioned internet cafe?), the bar/restaurant and the car hire place? Do you know how long the car was hired for? Did either of them discuss sightseeing plans with their other halves?

And do you think any of the sightings are likely to be them? I think one was in a bar, one in Gibraltar, one was Liam buying cigs at a petrol station etc etc.


Timeline is correct.
Police have discussed that cctv isn’t as easily accessible in Spain. There’s not even cameras on motorways, the chief inspector also explained that in restaurants and bars, shop front etc it will never have a street view, just cctv coverage of the property.
Police also explained that they can acquire cctv however it’s often private and privacy laws etc aren’t the same as they are here. Her example was that here she could knock on a persons front door and expect the person living in the property to hand over cctv of someone’s house and possibly street view. This isn’t as easily accessible out there although they are trying to gain as much footage as they can.
(How true this is I’m unsure)

Bars and restaurants I believe seem to be in walking distance, they wouldn’t need a car necessarily. The possibility of them hiring the car to view property’s in my mind would be likely, although again I wouldn’t know for sure as it wasn’t discussed.

My brother and dad weren’t much for sightseeing or excursions etc so I’d rule that out.

In this case it seems anything is possible though as I clearly know so little.

Police aren’t holding much hope for the sighting, the lady who was meant to see them in Gibraltar has apparently seen them on the Monday so again I don’t believe this to be true, although police assured it would be looked into. I would assume if this was a true sighting cctv of them would have been recovered by this point and I would like to hope someone would have made contact with me to confirm.
Sightings of them don’t really add up to me, if they were seen in public areas or petrol stations I’d like to think they'd make contact with us, its Just not right.
Police aren’t holding hope for the sightings.
 
Thanks for replying. Did the police offer up any alternative explanations or theories for where they could have gone?

I know you don't like talk about drugs / Morocco blah blah so tell me to shut up if I'm totally wide of the mark, I'm only covering all bases and feel I have to ask so don't be cross..... but is there ANY chance, even small, they could have got mixed up in something dodgy over there? Could they have been coerced by anyone they know in Spain or UK to do an easy "day trip"? Do you know if the ports in Gib / Algeciras have been checked for the hire car?

You know how you thought (or someone in the family thought) they might have visited an internet cafe and possibly bought SIM cards... €12 or £12 I think was the amount mentioned... well, can that transaction be verified and can SIM card calls and texts be tracked?
 
Thanks for replying. Did the police offer up any alternative explanations or theories for where they could have gone?

I know you don't like talk about drugs / Morocco blah blah so tell me to shut up if I'm totally wide of the mark, I'm only covering all bases and feel I have to ask so don't be cross..... but is there ANY chance, even small, they could have got mixed up in something dodgy over there? Could they have been coerced by anyone they know in Spain or UK to do an easy "day trip"? Do you know if the ports in Gib / Algeciras have been checked for the hire car?

You know how you thought (or someone in the family thought) they might have visited an internet cafe and possibly bought SIM cards... €12 or £12 I think was the amount mentioned... well, can that transaction be verified and can SIM card calls and texts be tracked?

Such good points made there....regarding the phone calls etc, that's why i mentioned whether perhaps the UK police can access their mobile phone and email records here, just to see if there was anything in the week before the trip that might give a clue as to where they might have gone or what they might have been doing and any property appointments etc, as often would send property details over by email and confirm appointments? And also if they had any communications with anyone else relevant? Is that something that could be requested?
 
Thanks for replying. Did the police offer up any alternative explanations or theories for where they could have gone?

I know you don't like talk about drugs / Morocco blah blah so tell me to shut up if I'm totally wide of the mark, I'm only covering all bases and feel I have to ask so don't be cross..... but is there ANY chance, even small, they could have got mixed up in something dodgy over there? Could they have been coerced by anyone they know in Spain or UK to do an easy "day trip"? Do you know if the ports in Gib / Algeciras have been checked for the hire car?

You know how you thought (or someone in the family thought) they might have visited an internet cafe and possibly bought SIM cards... €12 or £12 I think was the amount mentioned... well, can that transaction be verified and can SIM card calls and texts be tracked?

Don’t apologise. I don’t like those theories as it seems more unsettling to think of what the outcome of these scenarios might be.
But I don’t think anything is impossible to answer you question. What advice would you give on that?

I have given all passwords to iPhones, iclouds and email accounts that I know of, and handed the MacBook over to police too.
I’d assume this would help. And answer the questions below.

Police will be investigating the purchases from the Internet cafe although I don’t know what they know yet xx
 
Hi Lauryn good to see you here, and thank you for all the answers.

I was wondering, since you know your father best, do you know (or have an idea) what kind of property he would be looking at?

The three different options that I can think of:

Would that be a bachelor pad like a two-room apartment in a residence near the beach,
or an old house in the centre of a village, maybe Estepona,
or something rural, like a finca in the hills or mountains?

Should the place be ready to move in, or does he prefer a lower price and DIY?

Does he have friends in the area who might have helped him with the search? Would he use an agency?

All this may give you an indication where the car might have gone.
 
Hi Lauryn good to see you here, and thank you for all the answers.

I was wondering, since you know your father best, do you know (or have an idea) what kind of property he would be looking at?

The three different options that I can think of:

Would that be a bachelor pad like a two-room apartment in a residence near the beach,
or an old house in the centre of a village, maybe Estepona,
or something rural, like a finca in the hills or mountains?

Should the place be ready to move in, or does he prefer a lower price and DIY?

Does he have friends in the area who might have helped him with the search? Would he use an agency?

All this may give you an indication where the car might have gone.

Unaware of what connections he may have had over there in relation to finding a property.
My dad would be looking at villas, he spoke about a really big villa with a pool and garden he saw online I don’t know much about properties but that would be the type he’d be interested in.
Not one which would require any DIY
He was looking online and any accounts he would have made would be all on the emails I have given to the police too. I know he made accounts so it would be likely that maybe he made enquiries on those.

Would police maybe be able to access these if the passwords I gave them didn’t match the account? I don’t know what is possible really.
 
Unaware of what connections he may have had over there in relation to finding a property.
My dad would be looking at villas, he spoke about a really big villa with a pool and garden he saw online I don’t know much about properties but that would be the type he’d be interested in.
Not one which would require any DIY
He was looking online and any accounts he would have made would be all on the emails I have given to the police too. I know he made accounts so it would be likely that maybe he made enquiries on those.

Would police maybe be able to access these if the passwords I gave them didn’t match the account? I don’t know what is possible really.

No tiny bachelor pad then, but the real deal. Do you know if he wanted to be near the beach, or if he did not mind moving inland? ~there is often more space in rural areas than right on the coast.
 
I would not have a clue what my dad's passwords are to any of his devices, so it is lucky that Laurenpoole does.
There also seems to be confusion from post to post regarding why these men were on this trip. from property hunting to car shopping and beyond.
 
Unaware of what connections he may have had over there in relation to finding a property.
My dad would be looking at villas, he spoke about a really big villa with a pool and garden he saw online I don’t know much about properties but that would be the type he’d be interested in.
Not one which would require any DIY
He was looking online and any accounts he would have made would be all on the emails I have given to the police too. I know he made accounts so it would be likely that maybe he made enquiries on those.
 
What about getting a private detective that lives in the area they disappeared from? Not sure what level of corruption there is there with police depts etc. Not familiar with it. That is what I would do right away. What do the rest of you think about that option?
 
Hi Lauryn good to see you here, and thank you for all the answers.

I was wondering, since you know your father best, do you know (or have an idea) what kind of property he would be looking at?

The three different options that I can think of:

Would that be a bachelor pad like a two-room apartment in a residence near the beach,
or an old house in the centre of a village, maybe Estepona,
or something rural, like a finca in the hills or mountains?

Should the place be ready to move in, or does he prefer a lower price and DIY?

Does he have friends in the area who might have helped him with the search? Would he use an agency?

All this may give you an indication where the car might have gone.

Unaware of what connections he may have had over there in relation to finding a property.
My dad would be looking at villas, he spoke about a really big villa with a pool and garden he saw online I don’t know much about properties but that would be the type he’d be interested in.
Not one which would require any DIY
He was looking online and any accounts he would have made would be all on the emails I have given to the police too. I know he made accounts so it would be likely that maybe he made enquiries on those.

Would police maybe be able to access these if the passwords I gave them didn’t match the account? I don’t know what is possible really.

I'm thinking along the same lines as ZaZara above. I think looking online at possible properties your dad might be interested in, and marking them all on a map might give you an idea which area they intended to drive to that Tuesday morning (last sighting in hire car). It's already a great help that you are able to narrow it down to large villas, possibly with a pool. I think it's the most likely scenario - they went off to look at a villa and something happened, either a crime occurred or they had a crash. jmo

If you're able to hire a PI I would instruct him/her to do exactly that - drive to all the large villas for sale in and around Estepona. If you know how much your dad intended to spend for such a property you could narrow it down even more. I think it's a valid starting point.
 
Hi all,

It has been 4 years since I was here at Websleuths, when I looked into the case of Kris and Lisanne, two missing Dutch girls in Panama. I remember ZaZara from that time. In the meantime and before also looked at various other cases, one also in Spain (Murcia) and related to property acquisition.

I have read or skimmed most of the posts in this thread, but apologies if I missed any information and ask a double question.

From earlier cases I got the experience that asking questions helps in getting closer to answers.

From what I understand:

What and where
- Daniel (46) and Liam (22) Poole flew to Málaga airport on Sunday March 31st for a 6 day trip
- rented a car and drove to their hotel Valle Romano northwest of Estepona (around 90 km/1 hour from Málaga airport)
- somewhere in an internet café they likely bought SIM cards on Monday April 1st, "in the afternoon"
- Daniel had contact with his ex-wife Tara (named as Poole in the media) last on Monday April 1st @ 18:30
- Daniel has posted an image on Tinder, in clear Costa del Sol clothing and taken in the hotel? and uploaded it during that Monday?
- last sighting was the Peugeot rental care on Tuesday morning (hour?) April 2nd, when they drove off in unknown direction from the hotel

Why
- likely the intended purpose to visit Costa del Sol was to "look for properties" and/or "cars [as secondary goal]"
- Daniel & Liam are "not the sightseer/hiker type"
- other possible motives unknown

Questions (maybe Lauryn can answer?)
- did Daniel report any contact with local real estate agencies and/or private people on the Monday April 1st
- did he report scheduled appointments for the rest of the week to look at properties (or cars)?
- did Daniel already in the UK beforehand have local contacts there (email? phone?) and maybe even fixed meetings?
- did the phone(s) of Daniel and Liam have a dual SIM card option or did they need to switch cards when using 2 SIMs?
- did they have copies of their passports or photos on their phones?
- were they used to driving mainland European style?
- did Daniel do these Tinder meet-but-not-hook ups before or is this an exceptional case?
- did he mention that action to you or did you learn it from the press?
- do you know he brought (big amounts of) cash to Spain?

Speculations/ideas
- Daniel looks like a strong guy who can throw a punch, which would make the "gypsy style" talking, distracting and robbing (Spain has a huge gypsy crime problem) much less likely than the case of the Portsmouth guy to the east of Málaga
- leaving your passport in the room is not strange at all, especially if you don't plan to use it for official documents/notary visits on that day
- buying property does not exclude buying (also) a car, less for a car mechanic, if you intend to (part-time) live somewhere inland, it is very useful to have a (left hand drive) car



Links used:
'WE'RE TERRIFIED': Brother of missing British father who vanished from Spain's Costa del Sol with son speaks out - Olive Press News Spain
Family of British father and son who vanished from Malaga 'fearing the worst' as more details emerge - Olive Press News Spain
'EXTREMELY CONCERNED': Brit police issue public appeal to find father and son 'missing' in Spain - Euro Weekly News Spain
Fears for missing Brit dad and son who disappeared in Malaga six days ago
 
I think the likelihood of a car accident is very slim, Estepona, San Pedro, Duquesa, Puerto Banus, and all the surrounding areas like Behavis are very touristy and busy, it's the easter holidays and there would be a lot of people around out there, so I think it is an unlikely situation, or if there had been an accident they would have been found by now.

Have the spanish or british police offered any theory or other information to the family that has not been reported in the press?

Agree so little information, nothing concrete given out, why no statement from spanish police, why no info about passports or money. No further posts from Sussex police either?
Passports and their belongings are with the Spanish police the hire car has still not been found
 
This must be extra distressing, since they are missing in another country. You can’t just drive to a nearby town to search.
I do think the idea of a local PI is good. They usually are familiar with both the police, and the local criminal element.
Holding they are found, safe and sound.
 

Members online

Online statistics

Members online
114
Guests online
941
Total visitors
1,055

Forum statistics

Threads
589,930
Messages
17,927,806
Members
228,004
Latest member
CarpSleuth
Back
Top