John George: Arrest made after remains found in Spain in search for Irish father of two

Spanish police sources have claimed an arrest has been made after the remains of a missing West Belfast man were found on the Costa Blanca early on Tuesday afternoon.

The solicitor for the family of John George, also known as Hardy, said the victim's father Billy George had received a call from Spanish detectives around 5pm on Tuesday to tell them his son's remains had been recovered, reports Belfast Live.

In a statement, Kevin Winters 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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The Spanish Civil Guard, which has been leading the search for the missing man, has yet to make an official statement about the discovery or the arrest. But a source close to the ongoing inquiry said the man's body had been found in Rojales near Torrevieja and around 45 minutes drive south of Alicante. A post-mortem is due to take place in the coming hours.

The same source said a man whose identity and nationality has not yet been disclosed had been arrested shortly after the discovery. Later on Tuesday evening, it was reported that the arrested man is believed to be a 32-year-old from Eastern Europe. Police sources said on Tuesday night their investigation remained open and they hadn't ruled out further arrests.

Although the only person arrested so far is understood to have been held on suspicion of homicide, the alleged perpetrator could have fled the area, according to local reports. The spot where the body was found was under trees on a private property in a rural area of Rojales. The Civil Guard are reporting to an investigating judge at a court in Torrevieja.

John's family said the discovery of his body brings to an end "an extremely tortuous search process"
(Image: Family photo)

Police can hold the man they have in custody for up to 72 hours before handing him over to an investigating judge for further questioning.

That court appearance would take place behind closed doors, as is normal in Spain where only trials take place in public. The judge would have to decide whether to remand the detainee in custody or release him on bail pending an ongoing criminal probe.

John, 37, disappeared after travelling to Alicante in mid-December. He was last in touch with his family on December 14. The father of two did not catch a scheduled flight home after what was meant to be a short holiday and was reported missing four days later.

His family said he had been murdered and mounted a high-profile campaign to have his body returned. John's brother Darren travelled to Alicante to help in the search with their parents, Billy and Sharon, and sister Courtney and Caitlin, along with up to 50 friends and wider family from Northern Ireland.

On January 1, members of K9 Search And Rescue NI, a volunteer canine search team, joined the wide-scale operation to find the missing man. Seven K9 search technicians and their Labrador retriever Rocko took part in the operation.

It was reported on Monday they had returned home on Sunday after scouring hundreds of miles of land. Speaking before the discovery of a body earlier on Tuesday, Darren said of his brother: "A lot of people are over showing us their support. We also can see the support from back home, which is fantastic, and that's what's giving us the energy and the strength to actually go forward.

"But the searches can be very frustrating as we're getting no answers at the end of them. It's very frustrating and we are being left very angry. Someone knows where John is. They need to give it up, and they need to give the location, whether it's done anonymously.

"This isn't going to stop and certainly we're not going to go away until we get John's body. We get John's body, we're on the next flight out of here. Somebody has answers and we will not leave Spain without John's body." He also admitted drugs had taken over his brother's life, saying: "John had his troubles but he's a normal, average guy."

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