A British couple who moved to a farmhouse in majorca were tragically found dead after being poisoned by carbon monoxide leaking from their wood-burning stove.
Michael Rowan and Sharon Price were found lifeless at the country property near the picturesque town of Selva on Monday after their worried UK-based son got someone to go round and check on them.
The 62-year-old's body and that of Ms Price, 56, are believed to have lain undiscovered for two days.
Their post-mortems confirmed investigators’ initial suspicions the deaths were the result of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Local reports linked the intoxications to a leak in a wood burning stove through loose-fitting pipework that meant poisonous fumes entered the room where it was installed.
The motor of a portable generator said to have been kept inside the property, despite recommendations appliances of this kind should be kept outside, is also believed to have produced the odourless and colourless gas blamed for the couple’s deaths.
The alarm was raised around 4pm on Monday after a person looking after the country property discovered their bodies.
Forensic specialists were sent to the scene on Monday night.
There were no immediate reports of any signs of violence at the British couple’s house.
Selva’s mayor Joan Rotger went to the scene after being told of the news.
He told regional TV station IB3 before the results of the post-mortems were known that the most probable hypothesis being considered was that of poisoning linked to gas combustion.
He also revealed the expat couple had bought the property around a year and a half ago.
The house is in the municipality of Selva, although it is outside the small town at the foot of the Tramuntana mountains, just off the road linking Inca to Mancor de la Vall in the north of Majorca.
It is not yet clear if the couple’s family intend to repatriate their bodies or whether relatives have travelled to the Spanish island.
Last month a British ex-pat pensioner was arrested in Spain after his wife was found stabbed to death in an alleged frenzied knife attack in their home.
The British woman made a desperate call to the emergency services to say her husband had attached her at their home in the resort of Benalmadena.
Police arrived at the flat to discover the woman dead in the kitchen-diner with more than 20 stab wounds and her husband lying on their bed.
The 80-year-old man, who has not yet been named, was arrested at the scene and is now being held at the National Police station in Benalmadena.
