Police investigators have been combing the remote spot where Belfast man John George’s body was dumped after he went missing during a Costa Blanca holiday.
A trail of dried blood was still visible on the rural road south of Alicante where his remains were discovered on Tuesday morning, suggesting he had been abandoned in a hurry.
Police arrows had also been marked out on the ground which appeared to chart the pattern and direction of the bloodstains.
It came as Mr George’s family left a floral tribute in the Spanish village where his body was found.
A death notice said books of condolence have been opened in O’Neill’s Funeral Directors funeral homes at Stewartstown Road and the Falls Road in Belfast.
John George
In a video posted on social media, Mr George’s dad, Billy, said: “I’ve found my son, I’m bringing him home – back home to Twinbrook where he belongs. These flowers, I never thought in my life I would have to lay flowers in a foreign country for my son, John George.
“I will miss him every day. But in my heart, I have some great memories. John, you will never be forgotten.”
He added: “I cannot speak, my heart is broken.”
Back at the suspected crime scene, police activity continued.
No attempts had been made by the person or people who left Mr George to bury his body in a shallow grave, and instead it had simply been obscured under low-lying tree branches and foliage to prevent it being seen by passing motorists.
Police returned to the scene today as colleagues continued to question a 32-year-old suspect from the Czech Republic arrested on suspicion of homicide hours after Mr George’s body was discovered.
One of the two Civil Guard officers used a metal detector to go over ground near where he was found, around a mile off the main road running between the towns of Rojales and Torrevieja.
The decision to keep the unnamed man in police custody signalled the Civil Guard’s intent to use the maximum 72 hours that they have under Spanish law to hold and question him before they hand him over to an investigating judge for further interrogation. That deadline is due to run out tomorrow afternoon.
Post-mortem results have not been made public and police have not said how long they think Mr George’s body had been at the spot where he was found, although it is known his last contact with his family was on December 14.
His family reported him missing after he failed to catch a scheduled flight home four days later after what was supposed to be a short holiday.
By December 23, his family had launched a GoFundMe campaign to aid a search, voicing concerns that he had been the victim of a crime.
Mr George’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.
K9 Search and Rescue Northern Ireland team travelled to Alicante to help in the search for John George
On January 1, members of K9 Search And Rescue NI, a volunteer canine search team, joined the operation to find him.
Seven K9 search technicians and their Labrador retriever Rocko took part. They returned home on Sunday after scouring hundreds of miles of land.
Courtney posted online after learning of her brother’s death: “I love you forever and always. My body is numb with pain and my heart is broken. You have taken my brother’s life and ruined mine – you have put us through hell.
“I hope who has done this on my family, John’s face haunts them every night.”
An Alicante-based spokesman for the Civil Guard said: “(On Tuesday) morning, the Civil Guard discovered the body of a man in Rojales. The Territorial Judicial Police team of Pilar de la Horadada has been put in charge of the ongoing investigation.
“All the necessary work is being done at the moment to determine the cause of death and confirm the man’s identity.
“Pending the full forensic results, everything is pointing to it being a missing person whose family reported his disappearance on December 21, 2024.
“Following the discovery of the body, a 32-year-old man was arrested yesterday on suspicion of homicide. Further information will be provided as soon as more details become available.”
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A local who was watching police working today at the spot where Mr George’s body was found on Tuesday, who asked not to be named, said: “Clearly someone’s driven here and then driven away after leaving the body.
“It’s not the sort of place you’d come to on foot. The fact whoever’s responsible doesn’t seem to have made any attempt to dig even a shallow grave and has just left the body partially obscured by branches and foliage on the lemon trees points to them being in a hurry.
“The place the body was left is a privately-owned orchard. The police will have already contacted the landowner for sure to see if he saw anything suspicious.”
Billy told the BBC he had both happy and sad tears at the news – happy that they found his body but sad that he will never see him again.
“It has been horrendous, a nightmare,” he said.
“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.
“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.”
Billy George
Billy 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.
Darren added: “The last five weeks (we) have been living in hell, absolute hell.
“Getting up every day, getting false information about where John’s body is. We’ve been sent on wild goose chases.
“There are no words to describe what we have been going through as a family, but the support from back home, from both sides of the community, has been unbelievable. That has got us through this.
“We’re a close family as it is, this has brought us closer.”
The PSNI said they have been assisting their Spanish counterparts with the investigation and had issued appeals for information after Mr George was reported missing.