John Hardy, known as John George, was due to fly home to spend Christmas with his two children aged 7 and 13 but he never showed up to his flight from Alicante, Spain – his family believe he is dead
The grieving brother of missing Belfast father-of-two John Hardy, also known as John George, has vowed that his family won’t rest until his body is found and brought back home to Northern Ireland. John was reported missing on December 18 after failing to catch his flight home for Christmas with his children, having travelled to Spain three weeks earlier to visit friends.
His family became increasingly worried when his phone went dead on December 14. Following a concerning final phone call in which John sounded “distressed”, his loved ones have launched a desperate search in the Spanish resort, scouring the area daily in a bid to recover his body.
Speaking to Belfast Live from Alicante on Saturday, John’s younger brother Darren expressed the family’s anguish, saying they are “ripped to pieces”. Despite being in a state of limbo, the family has been bolstered by the support of around 40 people from Belfast who have joined the search, with more arriving each day.
He said: “We very much stuck in limbo but a lot of people have come from Belfast to help us look for John and there’s more coming every day. The support from Belfast has been unbelievable and there’s about 40 of us now involved in the search.”
Darren voiced concerns that vital evidence may be being missed by Spanish police, who are treating John’s disappearance as a missing person case. It was hell over the festive period for one Brit family frantically searching the expansive Spanish countryside for their missing loved one, John.
Darren spoke emotionally about the ordeal: “Every local out here in Spain has been supporting us too. They’ve been out with dogs and drones helping us look. My mum and dad are out here together with my sisters and partners and John’s partner. But we’re having to scour through thousands of acres every day.”, reports Belfast Live.
The relentless search continued, even during what should have been joyous celebrations, as Darren recounted: “Christmas Eve and Day was spent searching fields and today we’re down at the beach and marina area. We’re searching from morning to night and there’s been no let up at all since we got over here this week.”
With hope dwindling yet determination unyielding, Darren added: “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.”
In a heartbreaking revelation, Darren shared: “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.Mumis 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 of John, who vanished in Spain, has expressed their heartfelt thanks for the overwhelming support from both Spain and Belfast, stating: “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.”
In their quest, they’ve set up a GoFundMe page which has already amassed over £18,000. You can show your support by donating.