A British man who vanished from a hospital without shoes or a shirt has been found on the Costa Blanca.
The wife of Marc Tulloch Hewson, 63, originally from Wantage, Oxfordshire, had led a huge search for the man who last seen on September 20 in Torrevieja, south of Alicante.
Tributes were being paid to the University of Gloucester graduate today as it was confirmed his body had been found with his wife Catherine on the ground searching the surrounding woodlands.
Kelsey Johnson, who was involved in the search for him, said: ‘Thank you to everyone for sharing and reaching out with ideas and kind words in the search for our friend.
‘Sadly his body has been found.
‘Not the outcome we hoped for but the support whilst he was missing was of huge support to his family and friends.’
Marc’s sister Fiona Crowther, who was assisting his wife Catherine in a ground search when his body was found, said in a message: ‘Thank you very much for all your support these last few weeks.
‘Catherine and I were present at the ground search this morning. A body has been found and identified as Marc’s. Catherine has a lot of good people supporting her. Everybody did everything that they possibly could.’
Marc’s body is understood to have been found in a wooded area close to the Torrevieja Salt Lake where the Civil Guard and local volunteers had spent several weeks conducting coordinated searches.
There is no suggestion at this stage the expat Brit’s death is being treated as suspicious.
The results of the post-mortem are unlikely to be made public, as is normal in Spain.
On October 7, the Civil Guard made its first formal public appeal for information about Marc as it confirmed its investigation into his mystery disappearance was still ‘active.’
The force said in a statement: ‘Our investigation into the disappearance of Marc Tulloch Hewson, 63, is still active.
‘He went missing on September 19 near Torrevieja University Hospital.
‘The day he was last seen he was wearing a long black tracksuit bottom with the words ‘The Beatles’ written on them in white letters, a brown baseball cap and black shoes.’
A police spokesman added: ‘Information has been obtained pointing to the missing man being in the areas of the Jardin del Mar I and Laguna Salada residential estates in Torrevieja on the morning of September 20.
‘Then he was wearing black shorts and was shirtless and shoeless.
‘The search operation has continued in those areas as well as Orihuela Costa and locals have been interviewed.’
The force also released a photo of Marc via an Interior Ministry website, saying he was 1.75 metres tall, weighed around 70 kilos and had straight blond hair and blue eyes.
His sister, in an earlier appeal on an expat group Facebook site, said: ‘Together we can find Marc. You can help us.’
She added: ‘His wife, Catherine, myself and all Marc’s friends would like to thank each and every one you of you for looking, liking, sharing, commenting, suggesting and tagging. Please don’t stop.’
Other reports describing him as “approachable and friendly” said he left home on September 18 and didn’t return, and was picked up by an ambulance later the same evening.
They said he was discharged from Torrevieja Hospital around 2am the following morning and disappeared before the ambulance arrived to take him home.
On September 20 the body of 65-year-old British man Andrew Wade, who went missing from his Costa del Sol home in Marbella on August 15, was found near Estepona during a police search.
Three days later British holidaymaker Josh Rogers, from Bloxwich near Walsall in the West Midlands, was found dead in woodland in the Costa Brava resort of Lloret de Mar after going missing from his hotel.