Laurence Dollimore
THE search for missing Belfast father John George has gone international after Interpol joined the investigation.
The father-of-two, also known as John Hardy, 37, was last heard from on December 14, when he was due to drive from Alicante to Benidorm but never arrived.
On that day, he made a ‘distressed’ phone call to his relatives, before missing his flight home on December 18, sparking his family to report him missing.
Loved ones insist John was ‘lured’ to Spain for what he thought was a holiday with friends, only for someone ‘from home’ to shoot him to death and dispose of his body.
Northern Ireland police (PSNI) and multiple Spanish authorities have become involved in the investigation.
Now, according to Kevin Winters, solicitor for the family, Interpol has joined the probe and ‘could make all the difference.’
He told Northern Ireland’s UTV: “We have PSNI, we have Spanish police and now a third agency. And as I understand it we have all their resources bringing to bear on this investigation.
“That can only be positive news for the George family in their increasingly distraught attempts to recover the body of their son.”
It comes after the family vowed to remain in Spain until John is found.
His sister Courtney George said: “I know what has happened to him, he has been scared… And to know that his last moments he has been scared will haunt me.
“I want the people who did this to know they have ruined our family and ruined our life. We will never be the same so give us back our loved one and we can get him buried.”
Meanwhile, a specialist canine unit from Northern Ireland has returned home after scouring some 350km of Alicante with the help of labrador Rocko and a drone.
Team member Gary said their help ‘gave a boost’ to the family, adding: “We didn’t want to come back at all. It’s disappointing for us (not to find anything), we want to do the job, and we want to reunite their son with them.
“So if they want us to come back out again, we are all volunteers and we are willing to go, and if we can get the team together, we will go.”
