Anthony Piovesan
There has been another sighting of an Irish tourist missing in Spain, and a common theme has emerged each time he is seen.
The family of an Irishman missing for nearly six weeks on the Costa Blanca are ‘hopeful’ after receiving new information about a recent sighting.
Ken Moore was last known to be in Alicante on holiday on the weekend of October 7 to 9.
The 54-year-old from Cork was due home on October 7, but he never returned.
The Olive Press spoke to Moore’s sister, Tanya Foley, and launched a campaign to help find him last week.
She told the newspaper when he hadn’t arrived at the airport that he had told her he ‘wanted to stay a few extra days’.
Repeated attempts to contact him have since gone unanswered.
But a crucial witness believed Moore’s last known location was at The Tavern, in Villamartin, 70 km south of Alicante, about October 16.
Since the Olive Press launched its campaign, two key witnesses came forward on the weekend and said they spoke to Moore on October 31.
Foley said two employees who worked at the Villamartin Golf Health and Beauty Hotel said they briefly spoke to the missing man.
“My brother spoke to the manager there and he said he was definitely there on October 31,” Foley told the Olive Press.
“Because of the language barrier we don’t know if he was staying there or just passing through. They haven’t seen him since.”
Foley was hopeful about the more recent sighting, but still feared for his safety.
“I don’t understand why he’s not making contact with home, it’s not like him,” she said.
“All of the people who met him either earlier in October or more recently all described him as being ‘lost, emotional and unstable’, so he’s clearly not himself so we are very worried.”
Before the latest sighting Moore was last known to be at The Tavern, in Villamartin, 70 km south of Alicante, about October 16.
The Olive Press spoke to this witness, Sharon Davies, who believed she saw Moore and spoke with him when he entered the bar.
“I was cleaning the bar about 7.30am three weeks ago and he asked a couple of times if he could have a pint,” she said.
“I told him I couldn’t serve him and that it was quite early in the morning, then he asked me how far away Malaga was.
“I said it was quite a long way away and he’d need to get there by train or plane and then he left.”
Malaga is at least 450 km away from Villamartin – and nearly five hours by car.
Davies, from Stoke-On-Trent, said Moore appeared ‘unkempt’.
She then said she saw him later that morning about 9.30am having a beer outside The Winchester pub, at Villamartin Plaza.
He was wearing a t-shirt and shorts, and was carrying a black backpack at the time.
Moore, who works in construction, arrived in Valencia on September 17, and then spent some time in Alicante before planning to travel further down the Costa Blanca.
His worried sister filed a missing person’s report with the local guards in Cork, who then passed on the information to Spanish police.
Foley said Spanish investigators had been searching Alicante hospitals and looking at Moore’s finances, with the last bank transaction made on October 10.
Moore is about 1.78m tall, with brown hair and blue eyes. He also wears a black earring on his left ear.
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