Father-of-two John George has not been heard from since December 14 during a holiday to Spain and while a massive search takes place, his family believes that he has been murdered
The family of a missing man from Northern Ireland in Benidorm believe he has been murdered.
Father of two John George, also known as John Hardy, was reported missing on December 18 after failing to catch a flight home from Spain where he had gone to visit friends three weeks earlier. His family had become concerned when his phone went dead on December 14 and in a final phone call he had appeared “distressed”.
A major search has been taking place on the Costa Blanca involving friends and family to try and locate him. John’s young brother Darren says that the family has been “ripped to pieces” by what has happened and they also believe that he is now dead – and the police should be treating it that way rather than a missing persons case.
And the missing man’s sister Courtney George, 31, who has also joined the search said she believes he was murdered. “I think he has been murdered and his body hidden somewhere. Those responsible need to tell us where he is,” she told Sunday Life. “I am in caves and mountains looking for my brother while they have run away. They need to tell us what they know.
“We’ve already been to the last place he was seen to ask for doorbell or dashcam footage as well as CCTV. Once we locate video evidence we can work with getting canines to the location but we need proof about where he might be so the dogs know where to start.”
Courtney said that her brother had been visiting a friend in Cabo Roig, near Alicante. “We want a body and we want to bring him home. We want a resting place for him, that’s all we want,” she said. “I don’t care about all the rest for now, my brother has two sons and my main focus is getting him home.”
A video has also been shared on social media where Mr George appears drunk and he claims to be with Russians. Police are reportedly aware of the footage while a translator has confirmed that a man speaking in the background in the clip is not speaking Russian.
Meanwhile, the missing man’s brother Darren told BelfastLive: “As a family, we will not stop until we find him but at the minute we’ve very little to go on. We’re praying for someone to come forward anonymously and give us a bit of information so that we can recover his body and get him home.”
He laid bare the sombre reality: “We know John is dead and not missing so we just need to get him back. There’s a £30,000 reward from family and friends for any information that leads us to him so we want somebody to come forward from any of his friends. We just need this nightmare to end and we’re doing everything in our power to find him.”
He continued: “Our mum has had two strokes and dad has had a heart attack but they are in their 50s and running around Spain looking for John. Mum is climbing mountains, crawling down caves and knocking doors in. We’re just devastated and heartbroken and John has two young kids at home who just want their daddy back.”
The family has expressed their heartfelt thanks for the overwhelming support from volunteers involved in the search. Darren said: “We’re hugely grateful for all the support both out here in Spain and back in Belfast. Everyone has been fantastic but right now we just need some vital information or tip off to get John’s body back. This can all stop now and be over but it won’t until we get John back. We will fight every day and we have to move to Spain, we will move to Spain. But we will not be leaving Spain without John’s body.”
