Laurence Dollimore
THE family of missing expat Lisa Brown are raising funds for a reward for information in a bid to find her body.
The Scottish mother vanished from her home in the Cadiz province in November 2015.
Her family believe she was murdered and that a group of ex-pats are ‘complicit’ in her disappearance.
In an interview with STV News, her brother Craig Douglas said he fears the worst for the 32-year-old.
“That’s really difficult to say out loud,” he said.
“She’s been murdered. We don’t know why, and we don’t know how. The ‘how’ is probably too painful to hear and I don’t know if we’ll ever hear the why.
“Why can anyone do that to somebody? It’s beyond words.”
Brown was living in Guadiaro, near San Roque, and was due to start work for a gambling firm in Gibraltar when she vanished.
Guardia Civil have been searching for her whereabouts ever since.
They previously stated that one possibility is that Brown, from West Dunbartonshire, was killed and her body was dumped in the sea.
Patches of blood were also found on a mattress at her home.
Mr Douglas said: “I was her big brother and not being there when she really needed me is breaking my heart. It’s really breaking my heart.
“Sometimes I feel as if I’m just walking on empty. Where I have my job to do, I’m not there… The lights are on but no one’s home. I know I speak for others as well.”
Her boyfriend at the time Simon Corner fled Spain almost immediately after she went missing.
Corner, from Merseyside, had been living on a boat in La Línea de la Concepción, just over the border from Gibraltar, and was a suspect in the case.
In May 2016, he was arrested in Copenhagen, Denmark, and returned to Spain. He spent a year on remand before being granted bail in April this year.
Their family fear the high drug smuggling activity and high volume of people working in the trade in the area has created a wall of silence.
Her brother said: “For some of them to say they’re yacht dealers and stuff… I think a lot of people will make their own minds up about that.
“[These are] people who are involved in people smuggling who claim they are forced to do it… I don’t think people are foolish enough to believe that.”
The family has already gathered around £7000 for a reward for locating Brown. Relatives will take part in a sponsored walk on Ben Lomond on Saturday to raise more funds.
Douglas added: “I think there is a small group that has been complicit in [Ms Brown’s disappearance].
“I don’t think any one of them will speak up because I think that will implicate themselves.
“Our main focus is getting a reward that can appeal to friends and family of that small group, people who they’ve maybe spoken to.
“I think we are running out of options. We all said as a family that we’ll do anything. And we’ll continue to do anything, whatever it takes.”
