SPANISH police believe they have found the body of missing father-of-two John George.
Authorities in Alicante, on the Costa Blanca, are now treating the case as a murder investigation.
BREAKING: John George suspect is arrested in Alicante after body is found
John (pictured above), 37, was last heard from on December 14, when he made a ‘distressing’ phone call to his family.
He was due to drive from Alicante to Benidorm that day but never arrived, with loved ones having insisted early on that he was ‘lured’ to Spain for a holiday before being shot to death by an acquaintance.
The George family’s solicitor firm KRW said in a statement that the discovery of a body ends ‘an extremely tortuous process.’
It said John’s father Billy George notified them shortly after 5pm that Spanish police believed they had found the body, sparking an official murder investigation.
KRW Law added: “Mr Billy George was told that his son’s body was now in a morgue awaiting formal identification.
“The family are both distressed but also relieved at this latest news. It brings to an end an extremely tortuous search process for the body.
“The family want to thank all who have helped and supported them over the last number of days.
“They now respectfully ask for some privacy to allow them both time and space to engage on the next harrowing stages on what is now a formalised murder investigation.”
Dozens of supporters have flown in from Northern Ireland to help his family search the coastline and ‘areas of interest’.
His father Billy, sister Courtney, brother Darren and multiple other relatives are among those to have scoured different parts of Alicante over the past couple of weeks, including Cabo Roig and Torrevieja.
A specialist K9 unit was also flown in from Northern Ireland, but returned home at the weekend after being unable to track John down.
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