CCTV footage has emerged showing the final moments of a British father-of-four who plunged to his death from a Benidorm cliff last year – with police now investigating the case as a possible murder.
The newly released video shows devoted father Nathan Osman, 30 – who was holidaying in Benidorm with friends – walking steadily along the Spanish resort’s famed seafront just hours before he was found dead at the bottom of a 500ft cliff.
Spanish authorities ruled Nathan’s death was an accident or that he had possibly taken his own life – but his family immediately suspected foul play.
His brother and sister turned detective to trawl through CCTV evidence, gather witness statements and access phone and bank records in a bid to force police to reopen the probe.
In their search, they managed to find footage of Nathan at 4.08am walking alone along the party resort’s promenade ‘looking fine’ before he was found hours later at the bottom of a cliff.
After pleading their case to Spanish prosecutors in March, a judge ruled a homicide investigation should now begin.
Nathan’s brother Lee Evans, 39, said: ‘We met the Spanish authorities to discuss the case because we were not happy with the police report and believed there were discrepancies and a lack of investigation.’
Lee and sister Alannah Hughes played police a timeline they had established using CCTV from local businesses and records from Nathan’s phone including a FaceTime call to his friends where he suggested to them he was lost.
The final moments of a British father-of-four who plunged to his death after falling from a Benidorm cliff were captured on CCTV
Osman’s family, who have questioned the Spanish authorities from the start, have always suspected ‘foul play’ in the tragedy
Lee said the last sighting of Nathan, of Pontypridd, South Wales, was at 4.08am at the bottom of the promenade and it would have been impossible for him get to the cliff from where he fell by foot.
He said: ‘There is one road up so we believe he must have been taken. It is inaccessible by foot.
‘To walk up that hill would be at least 90 minutes and it is a rural area.’
Lee said what aroused the family’s suspicions further was that they later learned two attempted purchases had been made on Nathan’s bank card, the morning after he had died.
Lee said: ‘That was at a place nine minutes drive away from the place he was found at the bottom of a 500ft cliff.
‘We believe someone has disposed of his body there.
‘There’s a person or persons who are out there who are responsible for taking him up there and for his death.’
Lee, who runs his own dog walking business in Cardiff, said they had to show Spanish police that Nathan was ‘not just a number.’
Spanish authorities ruled Nathan’s death was an accident or that he had possibly taken his own life
The last sighting of Nathan, of Pontypridd, South Wales, was at 4.08am at the bottom of a promenade
Detectives previously thought Nathan Osman, 30, had suffered an accident or possibly even taken his own life while on holiday at the tourist hotspot
His family managed to find footage of Nathan at 4.08am walking alone along the party resort’s promenade ‘looking fine’
At an inquest into Osman’s death in October last year, senior coroner Graeme Hughes heard the man suffered traumatic brain injuries after falling from the cliff. Pictured, the Benidorm coast
The judge and prosecutor have now agreed to reopen the case and to investigate Nathan’s death as a potential homicide
‘He wasn’t your typical Brit abroad,’ he said. ‘He didn’t get rowdy. He was wise, he was 30-years-old with four kids and very respectable. That’s why this was completely out of the blue.’
With the help of an interpreter Lee and Alannah presented their dossier of evidence to police, prosecutors and a judge and they hope to hear progress in the coming weeks.
Amongst their evidence was their suspicion that Nathan’s injuries pointed to an attack before his fall and that his phone had been smashed and wallet was missing.
He said they believed injuries had been caused ‘by an altercation at some point’ and not just by the fall.
They also played the judge a compilation video of Nathan playing with his four children to show he was a loving and caring father.
Lee added: ‘My way of grieving is to keep pursuing what has really happened because I know my brother would do the same for me and I’m doing it for every other family out there.
‘We want to say to his kids that we have tried everything out there to get answers.’
The family have been supported by Labour MP for Pontypridd Alex Davies-Jones who this week raised their case in the House of Commons as well as a private investigator.
But he said the family have had to ‘do this blind’ as there was no blueprint for carrying out their own investigation involving a death abroad.
‘We want to be able to help other families,’ he said.
