Body found in hunt for Brit, 37, weeks after he vanished in Benidorm days before he was due to fly home

A BODY has been found in the hunt for a missing Brit weeks after he vanished in Benidorm.

Dad-of-two John George, also known as John Hardy, was due to fly home to Belfast, Ireland, days after he disappeared.

Spanish police sources claim an arrest has been made after a body thought to be that of missing John, 37, was found on the Costa Blanca early this afternoon.

The family’s solicitor Kevin Winters said John’s father Billy George had received a call from Spanish detectives around 5pm on Tuesday to tell them his son’s remains had been recovered.

In a statement Mr Winters said: "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.";

A murder investigation has been launched, reports.

The Spanish Civil Guard, which has been leading the search for John, has yet to make an official statement about the discovery or the arrest.

But a source close to the ongoing inquiry said the man’s body had been found in Rojales near Torrevieja, around 45 minutes drive south of Alicante.

A post-mortem is due to take place.

The Spanish Civil Guard spokesperson told The Sun on Wednesday: "At the moment, we are conducting the necessary steps to identify the corpse found yesterday and to determine the cause of death.

"Yesterday, a 32 years old man was arrested for an alleged case of homicide.

"There will be updates as soon as possible."

John had reportedly been holidaying at a friend's home in Alicante until he left to meet friends in Benidorm.

He was last in touch with friends and family on December 14 and was reported missing four days later after failing to board his flight home.

John's anxious family had flown over to Alicante to take part in the frantic search efforts.

It was reported on Monday they had returned home on Sunday after scouring hundreds of miles of land.

Speaking before the discovery of a body on Tuesday, Darren said of his brother: “A lot of people are over showing us their support.

"We also can see the support from back home, which is fantastic, and that's what's giving us the energy and the strength to actually go forward.

“But the searches can be very frustrating as we're getting no answers at the end of them. It's very frustrating and we are being left very angry.

“Someone knows where John is. They need to give it up, and they need to give the location, whether it's done anonymously.

"This isn't going to stop and certainly we're not going to go away until we get John's body.

"We get John's body, we're on the next flight out of here. Somebody has answers and we will not leave Spain without John's body.”