Police in Barcelona are searching for a University of Alabama student who went missing from a nightclub early Tuesday and said his body was found on Somorrostro Beach.
Catalan police told NBC News that the body was found around 6pm local time on Thursday. Identity not confirmed.
James Paul Gracie, a junior accounting major, was last seen at Shoko, a beachfront nightclub in Villa Olimpica, Spain, his parents Taras and Therese Gracie said in a statement.
Gracie was wearing a white shirt, black pants and a gold rhinestone cross chain when she went missing.
Cavin McLay, president of the university’s Theta Chi fraternity, was with the group at Gracie’s club when they parted, “and that was the last time they saw him.”
McClay said he was in Barcelona, but not with the same group of friends as Gracie. About 10 people in Barcelona are visiting some fraternity members who are studying abroad, he said.
Barcelona police said they received a call about the possible disappearance of a missing person at around 3am on Tuesday in the Port Olympic area. His aunt, Beth Marren O’Reilly, told NBC News that Gracie’s parents became concerned after receiving “a phone call that his phone had been picked up.”
“It’s one of those things that you think doesn’t happen to your family but right now we really want to get the word out, get his picture out there and beg anyone who saw him the other night or ran into him and is scared because he’s doing something they shouldn’t be doing, please come forward,” she said.
Gracie is from the Chicago suburb of Elmhurst. The university said he was on a “personal trip” when he disappeared.
“We are keeping Jimmy and his family at the forefront of our thoughts, and our staff is in direct communication with the family to offer all possible support and assistance,” a university spokesperson said in a statement Thursday. “Anyone with information that may help is encouraged to contact local authorities. The safety and well-being of all our students here and abroad is always the university’s top priority.”
