Jason Taylor, 36, was in a boarding queue at Alicante airport in Spain, waiting for a flight back to Birmingham, when he vanished without a trace with friends and family launching a huge search
A British tourist who disappeared from an airport boarding queue after a stag do has been found alive.
Jason Taylor, 36, vanished as he waited for a flight from Alicante airport back to Birmingham on Saturday morning. He was last seen leaving the queue for the easyJet flight after a problem with his boarding pass. His disappearance was reported to Spanish police by worried relatives who flew to Spain to try to find the Welsh engineer. After disappearing, information came to light that he had been spotted by a British woman walking along a beach close to the airport which he disappeared from.
Jason’s aunt, Robbie Fitzgerald, was among loved ones and friends who asked for the public’s help in tracking him down. She said this afternoon in a short message on social media: “Jason has been found and is currently with his family. Thank you all for sharing and caring.”
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She gave no extra details about how or where he had been found. Jason’s friend Gaz Edwards had written online yesterday: “We arrived at the Alicante airport together on Saturday morning March 29 at about 8:30am.
“Our easyJet flight to Birmingham was due to depart at 10:30am, with the gates closing at 10:00am. Jason Taylor had lost his phone so had to access his boarding pass from someone else in the group assisting who had already passed the gate.
“We tried several times to scan his boarding pass but it was not accepted and the gate would not open, an error message came up saying to contact the airline so Jason went to go and ask for assistance. One member of the group waited behind the gate for him to return but this was the last we saw or heard from him.
“It is very unlike Jason and the family is worried sick. Jason was not ill, or drunk or incapable. We have several people flying back out today to try to find him and understand what has happened.
“UK police have been informed and it has been passed up to Interpol, who now have an alert on his passport so we would be made aware if it has been used. We are also in contact with the Uk consulate. Please only contact me with serious information if you know of anything.”
In an update he added: “We now know that Jason left the airport around 9am on Saturday morning on foot as we have been able to access the airport CCTV. Please can everyone look out for him and any information however small please update us. He was wearing dark shorts and a collared T-shirt which was white and white trainers with a black wheeled suitcase”.
Spanish National Police in Alicante confirmed earlier today they were aware of Jason’s disappearance and were searching for him. They couldn’t be immediately reached this afternoon after the Brit’s family said he had been located for any further comment.
A well-placed source said Mr Taylor had been spotted by a British woman who was among those the family had turned to for help. The source said he had been walking along Urbanova Beach, close to the airport he vanished from on Saturday, when he was sighted, adding: “Police were alerted and the missing man reunited with his family.”
It is not yet clear why he vanished or where he spent the near-four days and three nights during his disappearance. Urbanova Beach is around three miles from Alicante city centre and the closest beach to the airport.
A relative commenting on the fact Mr Taylor had been found said this afternoon he was “safe.” It is not yet clear if he will stay on in Spain or try to fly home with his loved ones before the end of the day.
• The Mirror is using its platform to launch Missed – a campaign to shine a light on underrepresented public-facing missing persons in the UK via a live interactive map, in collaboration with Missing People Charity. Because every missing person, no matter their background or circumstances, is someone’s loved one. And they are always Missed.
