{"id":589425,"date":"2026-09-04T01:46:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T01:46:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/589425\/"},"modified":"2026-09-04T01:46:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T01:46:12","slug":"nz-dad-and-wife-found-dead-in-spain-spa-tragedy-were-much-loved-parents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/589425\/","title":{"rendered":"NZ dad and wife found dead in Spain spa tragedy were &#8216;much loved&#8217; parents"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  [&amp;_p]:tit-sub-xl tit-sub-xl md:[&amp;_p]:d-tit-sub-xl md:d-tit-sub-xl mb-[1.3rem]\">The family of a New Zealand man and his Irish wife, who were found dead beside a spa pool at a luxury villa in Spain, have spoken of their &#8220;profound sadness&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">London-based couple, Patrick Tobin, 48, and Thomasina Tobin, 51, were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.1news.co.nz\/2026\/08\/31\/kiwi-dad-and-wife-may-have-suffered-cardiac-failure-in-spain-spa-tragedy\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">found dead at a holiday property in Cullera<\/a>, near Valencia, by their teen children last week. Tobin was originally from Wellington. <\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">According to the Daily Mail, Spanish police believe Thomasina died while attempting to save her husband after he became stuck underwater. <\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">A death notice said their &#8220;sudden and tragic&#8221; passing was being announced with &#8220;profound sadness&#8221; \u2013 describing the couple as &#8220;much loved&#8221; parents. <\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">&#8220;Thomasina and Paddy will be deeply missed by their children, their families, relatives, and many friends.<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">&#8220;Thomasina and Paddy shared a life filled with love, family and friendship. Their sudden passing has left an immeasurable void in the lives of all who knew and loved them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">&#8220;May they rest in eternal peace together.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">Tobin was a New Zealand citizen who had lived in the United Kingdom for about 26 years.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/an-image-of-a-villa-at-the-complex-in-cullera-valencia-sourc-IAAAEH535FBKHOYSTAKMBJ37ZI.png\" alt=\"An image of a villa at the complex in Cullera, Valencia. Source: Villa Luna Cullera\" width=\"800\" height=\"449\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"ImageMetadata__MetadataParagraph-sc-hi5x8q-0 cWTYyG image-metadata\">An image of a villa at the complex in Cullera, Valencia. Source: Villa Luna Cullera (Source: Supplied)<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">The Daily Mail reported that investigators believe the couple were victims of suction entrapment, which can occur when a powerful pull from a spa drain or pool traps a person&#8217;s body, hair or clothes underwater. <\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">According to Spanish media, suction marks were found on both victims but were more pronounced on Patrick. Scratches were also found on both bodies. <\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">Local newspaper Las Provincias reported the couple&#8217;s two children \u2013 who had special needs \u2013 were at the villa for more than 12 hours without realising their parents had died.<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">The resort&#8217;s operator, Colina del Sol, also issued a statement. <\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">&#8220;We would like to express our deepest condolences to the family affected by this tragic incident at Colina del Sol in Cullera,&#8221; a spokesperson told the Daily Mail. <\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">&#8220;Colina del Sol is a holiday resort that has operated for many years without incident for its guests. The resort has always maintained the highest standards of safety and quality.<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">&#8220;At this stage, we are awaiting the conclusion of the official investigation. We believe it is important to allow the competent authorities to examine the facts and provide an explanation for what happened.<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">&#8220;Out of respect for the victims&#8217; families, we will make no further comment. Our thoughts are with the family and all those affected by this difficult situation.&#8221; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The family of a New Zealand man and his Irish wife, who were found dead beside a spa&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":589426,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[111,43,139,69,1745],"class_list":["post-589425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-uk-europe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=589425"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589425\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/589426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=589425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=589425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=589425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}