Dutch police to make Facebook appeal for missing Achill man

MISSING A fresh appeal was made for information regarding the whereabouts of Achill man JP Grealis who went missing in Holland in October 2008

Anton McNulty

The family of missing Achill man, JP Grealis hope that an appeal on the Dutch Police Facebook page will raised awareness across the Netherlands and Europe regarding his disappearance.
James Patrick (JP) Grealis from Tonragee, Achill went missing in the Dutch town of Breda in October 2008 while looking for work and there has been no sign of him since.
The Missing Persons department of the Dutch Police are using the month of May to assist in the search of the long-term missing. Each day they have posted profiles and stories of a missing person on their Facebook page and tomorrow [Wednesday, May 31] they will focus on JP’s disappearance.
JP’s sister, Helen explained that there are a lot of missing people in the Netherlands and they had to fight hard for his profile to be included in the appeal.
“We had to fight hard to get a day dedicated for JP because I consider him to be long-term missing and it is a strange case because there is no evidence. The Police will advertise it on their Facebook page and appeal for information.
“The appeal will include a photo of JP and information around his disappearance and the impact it has had on his family. My Mum passed away without knowing what happened to JP and Dad’s illness has been brought on by JP’s disappearance. Hopefully the emotional aspect of the appeal will help because at the moment we are in limbo,” Helen said.
JP was 24 years old at the time he went missing and the Grealis family had to fight a long campaign with the Dutch police to investigate his disappearance. Helen hopes his appeal will keep JP’s memory in focus and reach a wider audience.
“The appeal will be refreshed on the Dutch Police’s Facebook page throughout the day and will always be on their page. Once it is up I will start sharing it with my Dutch contacts and hopefully they will start sharing and it will spread across Europe. Unfortunately Facebook was not really up and running like it is now when JP went missing. Hopefully this appeal will help get information,” she said.
The Facebook page for the Dutch police is www.facebook.com/politie.