A University of Alabama student’s family is pleading for information after he went missing on Tuesday, after a night out at a Barcelona beachfront club during a visit to friends studying abroad.
James Paul Gracey, 20, was last seen at Shoko, a nightclub in Villa Olimpica on the beach in Spain, his parents, Taras and Therese Gracey, said in a statement to NBC News.
He was wearing a white shirt, dark pants, and a chain with a gold rhinestone cross.
Police in Barcelona said they received a call about a possible disappearance of a person who went missing around 3 a.m. Tuesday in the Port Olímpic area.
“We are conducting the initial checks and have taken a report in an open investigation,” police said.
His aunt, Beth Marren O’Reilly, told NBC News that his “parents got a phone call that his phone was picked up, and that’s what drove them to be worried.” She said his roommates had not heard from him.
“We don’t know a whole lot beyond that. At this point, our focus is really just on finding him,” she said.
She said the ordeal has been “overwhelming” for the family.
“It’s one of those things you think isn’t going to happen to your family but right now we just really want to get the word out, get his picture out there and just beg anybody that might have seen him the other night or ran into him and are afraid because they were doing something they shouldn’t have, just please come forward,” she said.
Cavin McLay, junior and president of the university’s Theta Chi fraternity, said he found out from a friend that Gracey was missing. He said he was told that Gracey was with a group at the club and they got separated, “and that was the last time they saw him.”
“My heart sank to my stomach. It’s definitely not a good text to wake up to,” he said.
The group that Gracey was out with did not have any encounters that made them worried for their safety before his disappearance, according to the McLay.
“First thoughts were, hopefully he just lost his phone and tried making his way back on his own,” he told NBC News.
McLay said about 10 people are in Barcelona right now, visiting a few fraternity members who are studying abroad. McLay said he is not staying with the same group of friends as Gracey.
Gracey, a junior accounting major from the Chicago suburb of Elmhurst, was on a “personal trip” when he vanished, a university spokesperson said in a statement.
“UA staff are in touch with the family and those associated with them to offer support and assistance in any way possible,” the spokesperson said.
