Police are investigating the death of a British man found lying lifeless alongside his wife outside their apartment in a popular Portuguese coastal town.
The couple are thought to have died instantly after plunging from the fifth floor of their smart block in Cascais, a half-hour drive west of Lisbon and a short walk from the Atlantic.
The 69-year-old Brit found dead outside his apartment block in the Portuguese coastal town of Cascais was yesterday named locally as James Sanders Frost.
His Portuguese partner was named as Maria Ramos, 54.
The couple are thought to have died instantly after plunging from the fifth-floor of their smart block in Cascais (pictured in a stock image), a half-hour drive west of Lisbon and a short walk from the Atlantic
Officers from the same force tasked with probing Madeleine McCann’s mystery May 3, 2007 disappearance have been called in to investigate the double tragedy, although initial reports today pointed to a possible suicide pact.
One local paper said detectives had found letters inside the couple’s flat highlighting their dire financial situation.
The Policia Judiciaria, the force investigating the incident, have confirmed they are leading a probe but have not yet made any official comment.
The alarm was raised just after 6.30am yesterday morning when a neighbour discovered their bodies lying near the entrance to the apartment block in Marechal Carmona Avenue near to a Jumbo hypermarket as he left for work.
The alarm was raised just after 6.30am yesterday morning when a neighbour discovered their bodies lying near the entrance to the apartment block in Marechal Carmona Avenue near to a Jumbo hypermarket as he left for work. Pictured: A file image of Cascais
Paramedics rushed to the scene but could do nothing to save them and they were pronounced dead shortly afterwards.
Officers from a local homicide department were also mobilised along with forensic experts, who are said to have taken away medicine from the couple’s home as well as letters they wrote whose content has not been officially disclosed.
The results of autopsies carried out at Lisbon’s Forensic Medicine Institute have not been made public, as is normal in Portugal.
The floor the couple plunged from, around 50 feet up from the ground, is the top floor of the apartment block.