Police in Spain say they have found the body of University of Alabama student James “Jimmy” Gracey, who went missing earlier this week while visiting his friends in Barcelona for a spring break trip.
The body of the 20-year-old was found around 6 p.m. Thursday in the water off Barcelona’s Somorrostro beach, near where he was last seen outside a nightclub early Tuesday morning, according to Catalan police.
Gracey’s last known location was 3 a.m. on March 17 outside Shôko Barcelona, a popular nightclub in the city’s Olympic Village near Barceloneta Beach, his family said in a Facebook statement.
Earlier Thursday police said they suspected foul play in his disappearance after surveillance footage they viewed from that night showed Gracey outside Shôko, leaving the club.
In a statement to Al.com, Gracey’s family said: “We are so grateful for the kindness and concern that has been shown for our family during this incredibly difficult time.” They added that they would not be giving interviews “at this time to focus on being together and caring for one another.
Gracey, who was wearing a white shirt and dark pants and a chain with a gold rhinestone cross, never returned to the room he was renting with friends, according to family members who live in the suburb of Elmhurst, about 19 miles west of Chicago.
Police recovered his phone soon after he went missing. Police also said his wallet was found floating in the water near Somorrostro Beach, prompting an intensified search of the surrounding coastline, according to ABC7 Chicago.
Beth Marren O’Reilly, who is Gracey’s aunt, told The Associated Press that he and his friends arrived in Barcelona Monday morning to visit a group of University of Alabama friends studying abroad.
Local authorities notified Gracey’s parents that they had his phone. Originally, the family thought Gracey may have lost his phone or been pickpocketed, but when they reached out to his friends, they learned that Gracey wasn’t with them as of early Tuesday morning.
“You keep thinking that ... you’re going to wake up from this and it’s a terrible nightmare,” O’Reilly said. “You know, you see people say this all the time. You never thought it could be our family. And here we are.”
O’Reilly described him as a “good Catholic boy from the Midwest” and an “amazing older brother” to his four younger siblings. Along with his fraternity commitments, he is in the honors program at Alabama, she said.
“He’s such an all-around good kid,” O’Reilly said. “And that’s why we’re so worried. It’s just, it’s not like him to not be in contact.”
Gracey, an accounting major set to graduate next year, was also a member of the Theta Chi fraternity. Fraternity officials said he served as both chaplain and a philanthropy chairman.
Catalan police say that their investigation continues into the cause of death.
