Case of missing British father and son in Spain three years ago takes new twist with murder probe

Sussex Police has opened a double murder investigation following the disappearance of a British father and son in Spain’s Costa del Sol over three years ago.

The pair had travelled to Spain for a six-day road trip but haven’t been heard from since they last made contact on April 1, 2019, the day after they arrived.

The Mirror confirmed yesterday that the disappearances of Daniel Poole, 46, and his 22-year-old son Liam, from Burgess Hill in West Sussex, were being treated as murder cases.

They had been staying at the luxurious Valle Romano Golf & Resort in the seaside town of Estepona, flying out so Danny could search for a holiday home to buy.

The pair had checked into the Valle Romano Hotel, pictured, before they vanished

Father-of-three Daniel, a garage owner, checked into the hotel with his son and they were last spotted at an internet cafe.

Their passports and clothes were left in their room and their grey Peugeot 308 car they had hired was not returned, prompting an international search by both British and Spanish police.

 Daniel Poole (left) and his son Liam (right) of Burgess Hill, Sussex, have been missing since April 1. The pair were staying at Valle Romano Golf & Resort in the seaside town of Estepona in Spain

He was reportedly carrying £20,000 worth of cash in a suitcase, which has never been recovered, with the Mirror saying the pair had links to illegal drugs gangs. 

Upon hearing the news of the murder investigation, Daniel’s daughter and Liam’s sister Lauryn Poole, 23, told the Mirror: ‘There was hope there but now it’s gone. It’s brought on a whole new level of grief, and I’ve really struggled to accept it.’

Liam’s mother and Daniel’s ex-wife Lisa Berwick, 46, added: ‘I knew it from the start but it still hurts to hear it.’

Following the father and son’s disappearances in 2019, British detectives said they believed they were not planned, adding the pair ‘may have come to harm’.

Their disappearance has previously been linked with the notorious criminal Kevin Parle, one of Britain’s most wanted men.

In an episode of his BBC podcast Manhunt: Finding Kevin Parle, investigator Peter Bleksley made an alleged link between the gangster and the missing pair. 

‘There’s a clear linkage between the network of criminals that have been harbouring and funding him (Kevin Parle) and the disappearance of Danny and Liam Poole.

‘It’s worthy of further investigation – the police need to take this very seriously,’ he told the Mirror in 2019.

He added an informant within the gang had said Parle was behind the disappearance of the father and son, saying: ‘The source said they weren’t implicating Parle directly, but told me that “the father and son from Burgess Hill won’t be seen again.”

‘I later met my source face-to-face and discussed Danny and Liam. The source told me the criminal network surrounding Kevin Parle was responsible for their disappearance.

‘I’ve also identified a number of individuals in Parle’s network, some of whom have residential and business addresses on the south coast and Sussex, not far from where Danny and Liam were living. Everything points to these two cases being linked.’

Anyone with any information can contact CrimeStoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or by visiting its website.