€20,000 reward for information on missing Achill man

€20,000 reward for information on missing Achill man


Anton McNulty

IN Mayo, Christmas time is very much associated with people coming home to celebrate the holiday season with their family but for the Grealis family from Achill this time of the year has become particularly difficult.
This Christmas was the third they have celebrated since the disappearance of their son and brother, James Patrick or JP, who went missing in Holland on October 23, 2008. There has been no sighting of JP - who was 24-years-old at the time - since he checked out of a B&B in the town of Breda where he worked as a carpenter.
In the days before Christmas, the family launched a fresh appeal in Holland including offering a €20,000 reward for information regarding his whereabouts. His sister, Helen told The Mayo News that Christmas is a difficult time of year for the family.
“This is the worst time of the year. Christmas was a time when the family would come together and JP would always come home. While we make the most of it as we can, it is not the greatest time of the year and I’d like to see it over. This will be the third Christmas [since he went missing] and it is not getting any easier,” she said.
Last August, the family offered a €10,000 reward for anyone who may have information leading to his whereabouts but there has been no break-through. They now hope the fresh appeal and the increased financial reward may persuade people to come forward and end the family’s torment.
A team of Dutch experts including a retired detective, a criminal psychologist and a well-known crime reporter who take on cold cases are continuing to investigate JP’s disappearance but Helen admitted the lack of information is very frustrating.
“We didn’t get any solid information after the launch of the first appeal offering the €10,000 award and increasing the award can’t do any harm. It is extremely frustrating that our own government cannot do anything and the police over there seem to have given up. We are struggling to get any information and it is now over two years and the leads have led to nothing. We are not sure what more we can do but increasing the reward is another option and we have to go with it,” she said.
The Grealis family continue to travel to Holland to keep JP’s profile in the Dutch media and in they recently set up a website, www.jpgrealis.com. The website allows people with information to contact the investigation team in confidence if they have any information on JP’s whereabouts.