A body found by Spanish police is believed to be that of missing Belfast man John George.
A solicitor representing the family said Billy George, the victim’s father, contacted him from Spain shortly after 5pm on Tuesday after the Cuerpo de la Guardia Civil confirmed a body had been located.
“I spoke with Billy half an hour ago and he confirmed that Spanish police had told him they had recovered his son’s remains. He was understandably very emotional at the news,” Kevin Winters said.
“It is a strange mixture of emotion and also relief that he has found his son. They now want to move on to the next stage and bring him home.
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“It brings to an end an extremely tortuous search process for the body.”
Dozens of family members and friends travelled to Alicante to take part in the search for Mr George (37), a father of two, who failed to return home from a holiday last month.
He was last in contact with his father on December 14th and was reported as a missing person four days later.
His family believe he was murdered and secretly buried. They have made repeated appeals for information.
A Northern Ireland voluntary search and rescue team also travelled to Spain on New Year’s Day following a fundraising campaign but returned at the weekend.
Formal identification of the body has not yet taken place, with DNA testing due to be carried out. However, it is believed clothing and tattoos are those of the victim.
The family’s solicitor said Mr George was informed his son’s body “was now in a morgue awaiting formal identification”.
“The family want to thank all who have helped and supported them over the last number of days,” Mr Winters added.
“They now respectfully ask for some privacy to allow them both time and space to engage on the next harrowing stages on what is now a formalised murder investigation.”
Speaking to The Irish Times last Friday, Mr George described the family’s ordeal over the past three weeks as “horrendous”.
He travelled to Alicante (where his son was last seen after driving from Benidorm) with relatives on December 21 and led the search while repeatedly appealing to Spanish authorities and the PSNI for help.
“My son would have rang me five to six times a days. I knew he was dead,” Mr George said.
Last week the PSNI renewed a public appeal for information and said it had been “liaising closely with the missing man’s family and other law enforcement agencies”.
At the weekend, it emerged that Interpol were also involved in the investigation.
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