A Northern Ireland rescue team that travelled to Spain to search for a missing Belfast man has returned home after scouring 350km of land.
Members of K9 Search And Rescue NI, a volunteer canine search team, travelled to Alicante to join the wide-scale operation to find 37-year-old John George.
Mr George, also known as John Hardy, had been holidaying in the Spanish city and was last in touch with his family on December 14th.
He was reported missing four days later after he failed to board his flight home to Northern Ireland.
His family believe the father-of-two is dead.
Seven K9 search technicians and their Labrador retriever Rocko took part in the operation.
They searched almost 1,200 acres of land, with more than 350km covered by foot, dogs and a drone.
Rocko is a victim recovery and live air scenting dog and was instrumental in leading the search team.
Despite thorough searches, the team did not find anything related to Mr George.
Alicia Huntley, a handler for Rocko, said it was an opportunity to help the family.
Ms Huntley and Rocko arrived back at Dublin Airport with colleague Gary Pullen on Sunday night.
“The areas we searched were really big. Some were very dense areas, some more sparse, like open wasteland,” she told the PA news agency.
“I was working alongside Rocko, my dog, and he works the wind through scenting. It was really hard going, but we worked really well as a team, and covered a lot of distance.
“The dogs and us, we are trained to search for long days, so it’s stuff that we’re prepared for, that’s not new to us, and we are trained to do that.
“It was the different types of area that was sort of newer and we had to manage the temperature. The dogs coped really, really well in the heat actually.
“We stayed hydrated and stopped in the shade when we needed to. It was nice to be able to apply our skills. We’re trained, we do know what we’re doing when we’re searching and we applied our skills to a different place, but in reality, it looks the same as what we do and what we’re prepared for.
“For us, it was really important to be able to be there and help the family as best we could, and be able to to use our training to help them.
“There was a lot of family and friends out, and we saw them searching, and we worked in some areas beside them. It felt like we were able to help them and we have the extra skill set of the dogs, which makes a big difference when you’re searching.”
Gary, a search technician and medic, said their presence gave the family a boost.
He said: “If it was my son or my daughter, I would want people out searching. We train every week for different types of scenarios. So it was good to put our training in place, but also show people that we can do what we are trained to do, and also to support the family.
“I think it was a great boost to them, and it raised their morale.
“I’ve got to thank Iberia Airlines as well for taking Rocko out. It was logistically difficult because some of the team went out via Belfast, and we had to come via Dublin. So we need to thank them for the care they took of us.
“We didn’t want to come back at all. It’s disappointing for us (not to find anything), we want to do the job, and we want to reunite their son with them. So if they want us to come back out again, we are all volunteers and we are willing to go, and if we can get the team together, we will go.”
He said searching for a body is a challenge.
“That’s why Rocko is out. He can pick up a scent quite a way off,” he added.
“Ryan, our team leader, liaised mostly with the family and the Spanish authorities. We are guided by him and he’ll collate the information and then send us to where he believes is a viable area and that’s what we’ve done.”
Mr George’s brother previously made a plea for any information about his whereabouts.
Darren George is in Alicante helping in the search with parents Billy and Sharon and sisters Courtney and Caitlin, along with up to 50 friends and wider family from Northern Ireland.
“Someone knows where John is. They need to give it up, and they need to give the location, whether it’s done anonymously,” he said.
