A father-of-two phoned his family to say he was heading on a flight home to Belfast from Alicante for Christmas. But he never made that flight.
The alarm was raised for the whereabouts of John Hardy, also known as John George, on 18 December after the “generous” 37-year-old failed to return to Northern Ireland.
Now, with his mobile phone off since 14 December, his family have travelled to the holiday hotspot in search of him.
Mr Hardy had been to Alicante to visit friends but he never returned (Family handout)
His younger brother Darren told The Independent: “Our family home has been ripped to pieces. Dad has had a heart attack, our mum has had two strokes, but they are still running around Spain looking out for him.”
Through tears, he added: “John was my best friend. He looked after me my whole life I never had to worry for anything.
“He is my go-to person. Whether I was sick or having a bad day he was always coming to the rescue. He made you feel safe.
“He was a character, he would call us every day and Christmas time is his favourite time. He should be coming through that door to see his kids and get everyone’s spirits up.
“There is no way he would be away from his kids. He did everything in his power to give them a good life.”
His family said they are also worried police could be missing vital evidence with John’s disappearance being treated as a missing person.
Mr Hardy’s children are said to be asking where he is (Family handout)
Darren said: “They [John’s children] don’t understand why he is not coming home.
“They keep asking ‘When is daddy coming back from holiday?’ Dad rang them every single day. Now they are asking ‘Why isn’t he ringing? Where is my daddy?’
“All I can say back is we are doing everything in our power to find where he is in Spain.
“I want somebody to come forward from any of his friends. We as a family, we will not stop. The support from Belfast is unbelievable.
Mr Hardy pictured at a family wedding (Family handout)
“Every local out in Spain is here supporting us. They have been out with dogs and drones looking with us.
“They are saying this is a safe place and they don’t want this brought into their country.
“We need to know where he is. We will knock on every door in Spain and every door back in Belfast until we find out what happened to him.”
The area the family are searching this week (Billy George)
The missing man’s father, Billy, also spoke to The Independent after he welcomed more friends and family at the airport to join the search.
He said: “I’m broken. I don’t know what to do next if I’m honest.”
The family has also launched a GoFundMe page to help raise money towards the search, raising more than £16,000 so far.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland said in a statement: “We received a report on Wednesday 18 December that a 37-year-old man from Belfast, holidaying in Spain, was believed to be missing.
“Enquiries are ongoing in conjunction with our international policing partners.”
