John George left Belfast to travel to Alicante to meet friends just before Christmas but never showed up at the airport for his return flight home on December 14
A body has been found in the search for a missing man in Spain just days after his heartbroken family said they knew he was dead.
John Hardy, also known by the name John George, left Belfast to travel to Alicante to meet friends just before Christmas but never showed up at the airport for his return flight home on December 14.
The 37-year-old’s devastated sons said they wanted to ask Santa only to bring their dad home in time for the festivities but it appears John’s disappearance could have come to a tragic end.
Authorities have told his family that they have found a body and an arrest has been made. It comes after loved ones travelled out to Spain to search for him themselves.
Billy George, alongside his wife Sharon and their children Darren, Courtney, and Caitlin, as well as approximately 50 friends and relations from Northern Ireland, threw themselves into the difficult search effort in Alicante.
They previously offered up a £3,000 reward and admitted: “We know John is dead and not missing so we just need to get him back.”
In a poignant Facebook video shared the day before a body was found in Costa Blanca, a distraught Billy George pleaded: “Another day and another nightmare we are living. Why won’t they just give the body up and we get out of here, please. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I’ve never begged for anything in my life but if you want me to get on my hands and knees, I’ll beg.”
He continued, desperate for closure: “Just give me John’s body. If you have a conscience, just give me the body. This is just a living nightmare for me, his mother, his brother and sisters and his family. You don’t know how much yous are hurting us, Whatever it is, whatever went wrong, just give me the body. Please, please, please, I can’t keep begging yous, I just need my son. I just want to bring my son home.”
Formal identification is still pending, with Mr George’s father turning to social media to assure those tracking the case that he will confirm whether the body is indeed John George’s as soon as identification is confirmed, reports Belfast Live.
A solicitor for the family said: “Mr Billy George was told that his son’s body was now in a morgue, awaiting formal identification. The family are both distressed, but also relieved at this latest news. It brings to an end an extremely tortuous search process for the body.”
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