A search area mapped out by specialists trying to locate the body of an Irishman believed to have been shot dead in Spain covers 159 acres, a search group has said as they paused their operation.
The scale of the search was gauged by a canine team that arrived in Costa Blanca last week. They flew from Ireland with a single recovery dog and calculated the task of finding John George, a father-of-two from west Belfast.
Their work, suspended from today, involves combing through forestry, scrublands, collapsed buildings and watercourses.
Joanne Dorrian, chair of K9 Search and Rescue NI, said that the charity’s volunteers had no choice but to pause the operation and make plans for a second visit to Spain.
She added: “Without more information, this is a very difficult case to solve.”
The last contact with George, 37, was on December 14 after he flew to visit the Alicante area. He made what relatives described as a “distressed” call home and his mobile phone has not been active since.
While his family say they have information he has been shot dead, Spanish police have not classified the case as murder and are not involved in the search.
His sister Courtney George appealed for information yesterday. “No one deserves what we are going through,” she said.
Relatives and friends are helping to scour land near where George had been staying in Cabo Roig.
The family believe that he was lured to Spain, killed by criminals and dumped in the wider area popular with Irish tourists.
Dorrian said the charity had “no inroads” with local police and was working on “trusted” information from the family concerning details around a murder.
The alleged murder is said to be linked to issues rooted in Belfast.