Aged 23 and 25, the son and daughter of Patrick Sandoz were sad to lose their dad on October 19, while Chaux-de-fonnier was on vacation in Benidorm, Spain. Three weeks later, they still haven’t been able to see his body, let alone recover it. Worse, they don’t know exactly what happened to him.
“The situation we are experiencing is horrible,” explains the girl. I can’t sleep at night anymore. I feel like I have to fight against the whole world and no one is helping us. Whether with the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), the Spanish authorities or insurance companies, I have the impression of only dealing with robots.” When contacted, the DFAE confirmed that: “it is up to the family to organize themselves to repatriate the body. For our part, we only intervene when she has taken all the steps that can be expected of her, without success.
Officially, Patrick Sandoz died following cardiorespiratory arrest. But the causes are not clear and toxicological analyzes are underway. As for the Spanish National Police, they indicate: “We found his body, which showed no signs of violence, inside his vacation apartment. It was in perfect condition and tidy.”
However, the girl does not give up. She is convinced that the death of her father is linked to an attack that Chaux-de-fonnier suffered a few days earlier. “Even though we called each other every day, I didn’t hear from him for almost 48 hours. And when I finally was able to talk to him, he told me that people had attacked him one evening and that everything he had on him had been stolen. But his memories were fuzzy, as if he had been drugged. From that day on, he was less and less coherent. And, finally, he died. No one will make me believe that it’s a coincidence.”
Lack of financial means
The equivalent of the public prosecutor’s office in Alicante has reportedly opened an investigation to clarify the circumstances of the death. But when contacted, he did not answer our questions. The deceased’s daughter, however, has few illusions: “I’m going to have to hire a lawyer locally if I want things to move forward.” Between the administrative procedures, the repatriation of the body and possible legal costs, Patrick’s children nevertheless fear lacking financial means. So they launched crowdfunding on gofundme.com.
