John George: Further details on circumstances of death of Irish father of two expected as body formally identified
The body of John George was formally identified on Wednesday, after being discovered by Spanish police on the Costa Blanca a day earlier
The family of Belfast man John George are anxiously awaiting an update on an investigation into his death as Spanish police question an Eastern European man after the discovery of John's body earlier this week.
The father of two, also known as John Hardy, went AWOL on December 18, having last been in contact with his family on December 14, reports Belfast Live.
His last known whereabouts were around Alicante and his body was discovered in Rojales, Torrevieja - a short distance from Alicante - on Tuesday, January 7.
READ MORE: Family of Belfast man John George in a 'living nightmare' as body found in Spain
Solicitor Kevin Winters, representing the George family, told Belfast Live that the focus is now firmly on the investigation being conducted by Spanish police and their questioning of a man in connection with John's death.
"The family are sitting waiting and hoping that something comes of that [arrest] and in the meantime, Spanish police will not release any details, and we wouldn't expect them to release any details of that detention," he said.
"That would be the same here if it was happening in this jurisdiction where you're not going to get any information, that's just simply not going to happen, it's not feasible.
"The body has been formally identified. There are autopsy reports, but the family are of the view that it can take anything up to 10 days to two weeks for John's remains to be returned home.
According to Mr Winters, the family is on standby for developments over the extension granted to the Spanish police to continue questioning a suspect: "A lot of things are going to turn on the outworkings of this detention today and by this time tomorrow we'll probably have a better idea of where things are."
It had emerged that on January 7, a bank card thought to belong to Mr George was found in a bar some 11 miles from where his body was discovered, but it is unclear if this detail is forming a part of the the investigation by Spanish police.
"As things stand, the family would like to get a bit more detail on how John died," Mr Winters added. "That has not been divulged yet, but as soon as the autopsy is done, we expect to get some detail on specifically how John was killed, and we should have that anytime within the next week."
Billy George, John's father, described his family's ordeal as "horrendous" and "a nightmare" in a statement to the BBC: "It has been horrendous, a nightmare. Every morning was a disaster, getting up, 'where do we go', it's a needle in a haystack but we came out to get John. We've got John, we're bringing him back home where he belongs."
"Christmas Day, people were unwrapping their presents, having their Christmas dinner, cheering and laughing," he added.
"Me and my wife, two daughters and a brother, standing in the middle of a field searching for their brother, crying, horrendous. I knew John was dead. John rung me six/seven times every day, doing my head in, every day he rung me. On the Sunday, I knew there was something wrong, I didn't hear from him. I knew there was something up. He was a melter but he was my melter."
Mr George said getting his son's body home is now his priority.
"I'll never be able to repay the people back home for what they have done for me and my family, the support of both communities, vigils, protests, donations, absolutely can never repay these people, and from the George family and the Hardy family, thank you very much," he said.
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