Mysterious Albanians, £7,000 in cash and a call from a dead man’s phone – Spanish police files have revealed fresh new details in the mystery surrounding a British father who died in Spain following a robbery at his apartment.
Brett Dryden, 35, died at his home in Mojacar on the Costa Almeria after leaving his workplace to meet two people in the afternoon of July 21, 2024.
His body was discovered covered in blood by a friend hours later, with his phone, wallet, and up to €8,000 – £7,000 – in cash missing from the property.
Despite signs of a struggle, Spanish cops informed Mr Dryden’s relatives that there was no criminal case to answer, nothing had been stolen and he had died of a pulmonary embolism.
But they were later forced to admit that a robbery had taken place, and a post-mortem found he had died covered in injuries including a large wound to his head and further injuries to his neck, face, arms and leg. It also found internal bleeding in his brain.
The police file, seen by the Daily Mail, now reveals serious questions about the events surrounding Mr Dryden’s death, including CCTV capturing a person standing guard as a ‘lookout’ outside his home before two people fled the scene.
A planned meeting with an Albanian and a mysterious one-second phone call to his mother from Mr Dryden’s phone, which was missing from his home and has never been found, only add to his family’s concerns.
And despite his phone being tracked to an address at a nearby town in the days after Mr Dryden’s death, it does not appear residents of the house were ever contacted by police.
Brett Dryden, 35, died at his home in Mojacar on the Costa Almeria after leaving his workplace to meet two people in the afternoon of July 21, 2024
His body was discovered covered in blood by a friend hours later, with his phone, wallet, and up to €8,000 – £7,000 – in cash missing from the property
Mr Dryden went home on the day of his death to his apartment (pictured) in Mojacar, Almeria, where he was said to be expecting to meet with an Albanian man named Irdi
Brett Dryden last spoke with his family on the morning of his death, at around 10am, in a FaceTime call with his mother, Sandra Adams, and young daughter.
That day, he was working at a club he owned which sells legal marijuana named The Dawg House, not far from his home in Mojacar.
He exchanged messages with a friend named Ashley Povey, who would ultimately find Mr Dryden’s body, shortly before 1pm.
Mr Dryden then informed his employee, Yashar Goodarz, that he would be briefly leaving the club. He was captured on CCTV footage placing money inside his wallet and departing at 1:35pm.
According to a statement to police given by Mr Goodarz, Mr Dryden told him: ‘I’ll be right back’.
At 1:59pm, CCTV footage that covered the area outside Mr Dryden’s home, captured someone wearing a cap and face mask appearing outside.
The man, who police say was acting as a ‘lookout’, walked up and down outside the property for 16 minutes.
Shortly after his arrival at 2pm, a neighbour spotted that Mr Dryden’s car was parked outside his property. Around the same time, Mr Goodarz messaged his boss asking where he was.
Mr Dryden was last seen alive at his club The Dawg House (pictured), which sold legal marijuana
At 2:16pm, two people were seen running away from Mr Dryden’s house on CCTV footage
One of the people to flee the scene had been caught acting as a ‘lookout’ (pictured) outside Mr Dryden’s home
Meanwhile Mr Dryden was on the phone with Mr Povey, who told police that his friend abruptly hung up on him after saying that people he was waiting for had arrived at his home.
What happened during the next 15 minutes is not known, but at 2:15pm the person loitering outside Mr Dryden’s property is seen on CCTV turning and entering an alleyway that led directly to his house.
Just one minute later, he and another person, also wearing a cap and face mask, are seen running away from the scene.
One was carrying a large bag and the other a small bag that appeared to match the one Mr Dryden himself had been carrying on his arrival home.
At 10pm, after being contacted by staff member Mr Goodarz, Mr Povey visited his friend’s property. After knocking and messaging Mr Dryden and receiving no response, he entered.
Inside, he found Mr Dryden’s dog sitting on the sofa, and his blood-covered body lying on the floor. He then alerted the local police force.
The police file seen by the Daily Mail shows that officers originally claimed there were ‘no signs of a struggle’ despite chairs being knocked over and bloody footprints all over the floor.
They ruled out a robbery and stated that Mr Dryden had all his personal possessions including his wallet and mobile phone. Friends of Mr Dryden were allowed to cross the potential crime scene twice without protective clothing, and his body was removed within two-and-a-half hours of judicial police being made aware of the incident.
Mr Dryden’s family and friends have visited his home town multiple times since his death in a bid to put pressure on local authorities – but the case has now been closed with no arrests
But the force was soon made to backtrack and admit that Mr Dryden had a catalogue of serious injuries at the time of his death and his wallet and regular phone were all missing from the scene.
His mother told the Daily Mail that her son estimated he had around €8,000 – £7,000 – in cash at his home at the time, and this was also nowhere to be found.
Bizarrely, a one-second phone call was made to Mr Dryden’s mother from this phone at 11:31pm – an hour and a half after his dead body had been found by Mr Povey.
It can now be revealed that Mr Dryden was scheduled to meet with an Albanian man named Irdi when he left The Dawg House on the day of his death.
According to a friend, Irdi, described as dark-skinned and of average build, had been planning to carry out a business deal at Mr Dryden’s home.
The friend added that Irdi had often been seen in the company of a second Albanian man, slightly taller than Irdi’s 5ft 6in stature, named Hakim or Hakir. There is no reference in the file to either man having been tracked down and interviewed by police.
Records show police spent considerable time analysing phone data and were able to track Mr Dryden’s missing phone to an address on Loma del Soler, in Vera, Almeria, five days after his death.
Officers discovered that a second mobile number had been located at the same address and was in the area of the crime scene between 1:19pm and 2:19pm. This number received a 21-second call from another phone at 2:09pm, which police confirmed was made from the Loma del Soler area.
The phone in the vicinity of the crime scene then stopped being traceable, suggesting it had been switched off.
Police were able to confirm the identity of the owner of the phone, a woman living at the same Loma del Soler address where Mr Dryden’s missing phone was later traced.
They found the woman had no criminal record and that she was not the registered user of the device.
At least four adults were living at the address at the time, one of whom had been arrested nine times by police. But the site is understood to be a campsite, meaning others could have been staying in the area at the time.
It does not appear police ever confirmed who the user of the phone was, or spoke to them about their presence in Mojacar on the day of Mr Dryden’s death.
Instead, the file states: ‘It should be noted that basing an investigation on repeater connections specifically in the area is difficult, since, for example, in the town of Vera, the same repeater provides coverage to the fairgrounds, the Loma El Soler farmhouse, and the town center itself, making it impossible to objectively distinguish locations.’
The case has since been closed with no arrests made.
His mother previously told the Mail she was concerned Spanish authorities were reluctant to investigate because they did not want to impact the local tourism industry.
Ms Adams said: ‘All I know is somebody hurt my boy and if it’s the last thing I do in my life I will get justice.
‘It’s terrible to not have any answers all this time later. I try not to imagine what happened because I would just crumble.
‘I just want to know what’s happened to my boy and then maybe I can move on with my life.’
Spanish Police have been contacted for comment.
