The family of a man who vanished after a holiday to Benidorm has accused local police of handling the investigation with incompetence after the man's body was apparently discovered without a part of his leg.
Phil Pearce, 68, from Bridgwater in Somerset , went missing on September 10, 2019.
His family issued a number of appeals on social media and flew out to the popular seaside resort in a bid to find him.
But tragically his body was found on November 23 by Spanish police , although Mr Pearce's sons were not informed until February 7 after police said there were issues identifying him.
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According to his sons Lee and Wayne Pearce, local authorities told them the reason for the delays was that DNA needed to be checked, and they had conflicting information about the missing femur bone.
Phil had been diagnosed with mild dementia , and was last seen leaving a police station after being taken there in a confused state by a member of the public.
However, he later left police property and vanished some time afterwards.
The sons said the situation was a “living nightmare” and that the investigation process was a “shambles”.
Spanish police have not responded to their accusations.
Speaking to the BBC, Lee said: “He should be home, laid to rest. He went over in one piece, he should come back in one piece. He should be laid to rest in one piece with all this bones in there.”
His brother Wayne added that he "could not believe" it took them over three months to notify them of the body.
He added: “It seems they don’t have a clue what they are doing over there.”
In a Facebook post earlier in the week, Lee wrote: "We all love you dad and we will get you home soon dad and won't stop until you are back home and laid to rest… you have gone through enough.
"We can't believe this has even happened… we all miss you like mad dad."
Conservative MP for Bridgwater, Ian Liddell-Grainger has said he has raised the case with foreign secretary Dominic Raab.
He said: “Everything has been, dare I say it, either slow or it’s been pretty shabbily handled by the Spanish authorities at every level.
“There are huge questions that we need to ask and have answered.”
A spokesperson said: "Once the body is repatriated to Somerset the coroner will decide whether a post-mortem will take place. Following results of that a decision will be made on whether an inquest is required."
Spanish Police have not yet responded to the claims.
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