Family hunt for missing Briton

Jeffrey's family believe he is still alive

By Claire Marshall BBC Spain correspondent, in Benidorm

The family of a British man with a mental age of eight who disappeared in Ibiza 14 months ago have renewed efforts to find him on his 40th birthday.

"I'm his madre," said Beryl Hodgson in her basic Spanish to the owner of a beach-front cafe in Benidorm.

She is pointing to a poster of her missing son, Jeffrey, and explaining that as his mother, she would like this picture to be displayed in the window.

The manager of the coffee bar seems genuinely concerned when Beryl explains that Jeffrey hasn't been seen since he vanished in July 2001, and immediately agrees to put up the notice.

Our lives are in limbo until we find him

Julie Hodgson
Jeffrey's sister

"They do get a lot of attention, these posters, so do our Jeffrey T-shirts with his picture printed on them," says Beryl.

The entire family are on one of their frequent trips from Stockport to Benidorm to try and track him down.

Jeffrey has a mental age of eight, and Saturday is his 40th birthday.

As she sticks a picture of her son up inside a phone box, Beryl adds: "It's particularly hard for us today, it's a very emotional time as we thought we would have found him by now."

Local help

Jeffrey wandered off as Beryl and her husband Derek checked into a hotel for a holiday in Ibiza.

Over the last 14 months there have been more than 30 sightings of him both on the island, and in resorts on the east coast of Spain, including Benidorm.

But he still hasn't been found.

Jeffrey Hodgson has a mental age of eight

"It's very difficult. We have to raise money to fund our constant trips over to Spain," says Jeffrey's younger brother, David.

"But we have had amazing help from local people.

"We've put up around 100,000 posters so far on Ibiza and mainland Spain, and a local printing firm did them for free."

The family do not believe that Jeffrey is dead, because despite extensive searches, no body has been found.

'Keep trying'

But the slow pace of the investigation being carried out by Spanish police is frustrating.

"You just want to wind them up and tell them to get on with it," says Beryl.

Any sightings are not followed up until it is too late, and it is difficult to get information, she adds.

Jeffrey's sister, Julie, is carrying a heavy rucksack full of leaflets and posters on the front beach at Benidorm.

She says: "Our lives are in limbo until we find him. We can't carry on our normal lives with my family and my children until we find him. So we've just got to keep trying."