The family and friends of a British IT executive who fell to her death from an apartment block in Spain on the evening of her 50th birthday have called on the Metropolitan police to intervene in a Spanish police investigation into the fatality.
Piia Hokkanen, who at the time of her death had borrowed her sister’s holiday home for a three-day mini-break in Torrevieja, near Alicante, was found lifeless after falling from a communal window on to a neighbour’s patio shortly after midnight on 4 September.
Her body showed no signs of a struggle and a report from the Guardia Civil shared with relatives indicates that Spanish detectives believe that the likely cause of death was suicide.
Friends said they are concerned that the Spanish police have rushed to their conclusion without interviewing all of the residents in the apartment block or securing and analysing key evidence such as Hokkanen’s two mobile phones and CCTV footage from nearby buildings.
At the time of her death, Hokkanen, a product manager at Visa Europe, was on holiday with her boyfriend of seven years, Eugene Doris, 42. After an argument, he had left the apartment four hours before her fall to stay in a hostel.
Speaking to the Guardian, Doris said he had only learned of his girlfriend’s death when he was formally informed by the police nearly 24 hours after their argument.
He said: “I don’t think she was suicidal, no. I think we are just liaising with the police and trying to get evidence. The police investigation is not finished yet. I’m looking to get Spanish lawyers to try and prod the police to investigate further with her phones and bank statements …
“I’m not her next of kin. I’m her boyfriend, basically, not her husband or civil partner. Possibly it might be useful to get the Metropolitan police involved with the Spanish police.”
Asked as to what may have caused Hokkanen to fall to her death, he said: “I think it might have [been] either something from the movie, Final Destination, something inexplicable – there’s no CCTV footage, as I understand it – something you wouldn’t, couldn’t conceive of unless you actually saw it or maybe she had, maybe, maybe she met with someone, a delivery driver, I’m not sure, to be honest.
“I think the police are still, yes, the police are still looking into it. I think I have to liaise with them and I think with some lawyers as well. Possible it was an accident. Probably it was an accident, yeah, that’s what I think.”
Final Destination was a supernatural horror film from 2000 in which survivors of a plane crash end up dying in a series of freak accidents.
Doris, from Belfast, said the couple had been wine tasting earlier in the day but that she had not drunk a lot of alcohol. He said Hokkanen, a dual British-Finnish national with whom he had been in a relationship for seven years, was “not a heavy drinker” and had drunk “no more than normal”.
She had sent text messages to friends in which she had looked forward to a birthday party in London on 7 September and to a further holiday to Spain in October.
The Met opened up a crime report after one of Hokkanen’s friends reported concerns about the Spanish investigation on behalf of a larger group, including her two sisters. An Interpol notice was issued through which the Met has shared information with the Guardia Civil but the case remains within the jurisdiction of the Spanish authorities.
A Met spokesperson said: “On Saturday 7 September the Met was made aware of an ongoing investigation concerning the death of a 50-year-old dual British national in Torrevieja, Spain.
“Officers’ role in such cases is limited to facilitating communication between overseas authorities and anyone here in London who believes they may have relevant information to share. Information has now been shared with Spanish authorities leading this case. It will be for them to determine whether further action may be required.”
According to the Spanish police report, Hokkanen, who lived with Doris in Kilburn, north-west London, was found at 00.20 on 4 September by a neighbour who heard the impact of her fall.
She was not wearing outdoors clothes but only a T-shirt and knickers and one slipper. A second slipper was found pointing away from a second floor window overlooking where she had landed in the inner courtyard of the apartments.
Hokkanen, who had lived in the UK for more than 25 years, appeared to have been holding an open toiletry bag when she fell. Toiletries, including lipstick, eyeliner, a cotton wool pad and a toothbrush, were spread on the third floor landing of the building.
Doris said: “I’m doing OK. Well, I’m just a little, well, I’m a little, how can I put it, I don’t have as many options as I’d like, because I’m not next of kin. I’m not married to her. But I’m also not sure if, how you can prod along a police force if you’re not happy with them. They won’t, they don’t speak to me other than the original meeting, as it were, when they basically just consoled me on her death. That was basically what it was.”
Enrique Puerto, 44, from Barcelona, who had been a friend of Hokkanen for more than 20 years, said he had spoken to the local detectives but they appeared adamant that it was a case of suicide. He said: “If you are not a resident, and you are a foreigner, you become like a statistic, case closed.”
The Guardia Civil did not respond to a request for comment.
