As the investigation into the murder of West Belfast father of two John George continues, the George family's solicitor has said that all eyes are on the Spanish police, who are continuing to question an Eastern European man who was arrested following the discovery of his body.
John George, also known as John Hardy, was reported missing on 18th December after failing to return home from visiting the Alicante region and had not been in contact with his family since 14th December.
After weeks of searches involving search teams from Northern Ireland, and over 50 friends and family from home, the family were informed by Cuerpo de la Guardia Civil that a body had been recovered in Rojales near Torrevieja and around 45 minutes drive south of Alicante on January 7.
Read more: Timeline of Belfast dad's disappearance in Spain after body found
Read more: John George: Official family statement issued as formal murder probe launched
Speaking to Belfast Live, the family's solicitor, Kevin Winters, said that all eyes are now on the Spanish police, who are continuing to question a man who was arrested a short time after the body was discovered.
"The family are sitting waiting and hoping that something comes of that [arrest] and in the meantime, Spanish police will not release any details, and we wouldn't expect them to release any details of that detention," he said.
"That would be the same here if it was happening in this jurisdiction where you're not going to get any information, that's just simply not going to happen, it's not feasible.
"As I understand it, the body has been formally identified.There are autopsy reports, but the family are of the view that it can take anything up to 10 days to two weeks for John's remains to be returned home."
Mr Winters said that the family are awaiting to hear more information on the outcome of the extension to the period that the Spanish police have been granted to question the man who has been arrested and if he will be formally charged.
"A lot of things aregoing to turn on the outworkings of this detention today andby this time tomorrow we'll probably have a better idea of where things are."
It had also been reported that on 7 January a bank card believed to be that belonging to Mr George had been handed into a bar some 11 miles from where his body was found but as things stand it is unclear if this is being considered as part of the investigation.
"As things stand, the family would like to get a bit more detail on how John died. That has notbeen divulged yet, but as soon as the autopsy is done, we expect to get some detail on specifically how John was killed, and we should have that anytime within the next week," Mr Winters continued.
Speaking to the BBC, John George's father Billy said he had both happy and sad tears at the news, happy that they found his body but sad that he will never see him again.
“It has been horrendous, a nightmare,” he said. “Every morning was a disaster, getting up, ‘where do we go’, it’s a needle in a haystack but we came out to get John.
“We’ve got John, we’re bringing him back home where he belongs.
“Christmas Day, people were unwrapping their presents, having their Christmas dinner, cheering and laughing.
“Me and my wife, two daughters and a brother, standing in the middle of a field searching for their brother, crying, horrendous.
“I knew John was dead. John rung me six/seven times every day, doing my head in, every day he rung me.
“On the Sunday, I knew there was something wrong, I didn’t hear from him. I knew there was something up.
“He was a melter but he was my melter.”
Mr George said getting his son’s body home is now his priority.
“I’ll never be able to repay the people back home for what they have done for me and my family, the support of both communities, vigils, protests, donations, absolutely can never repay these people, and from the George family and the Hardy family, thank you very much,” he said.
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