Missing man's parents face DNA delay

Jeffrey Hodgson wandered off outside his hotel

The parents of a man who went missing on the Spanish island of Ibiza will have to wait up to 15 days for the results of DNA tests which could confirm he is dead.

A body, believed to be that of Jeffrey Hodgson, was found last month on the island close to where he went missing more than a year ago.

Mr Hodgson, from Stockport, Greater Manchester, had learning difficulties and his parents have since carried out a major search for him.

But Beryl and Derek Hodgson have now been told initial DNA tests on the body have proved inconclusive.

Mr Hodgson vanished in Cala Llonga

In a statement, the couple said: "We are extremely disappointed that we still do not know whether this body is Jeffrey.

"If it is, we just want to bring him back home to his family and friends, and the longer this goes on the harder it is for all of us.

"It was devastating when we heard that the body may be Jeffrey but it is now three weeks on and we still do not know one way or another.

"We can only hope it will be over soon."

Clothing found

In April, the couple had to provide DNA samples after the discovery of two bodies in Ibiza, but neither was found to be Mr Hodgson.

But detectives found clothing and other items on 16 October not far from the hotel in the resort of Cala Llonga where Mr Hodgson went missing in July 2001.

It came a month after the Hodgsons, from Edgeley, widened their search to the Spanish mainland just before their son's 40th birthday.

They visited Benidorm believing Mr Hodgson may have been given a lift over there.

Mrs Hodgson has described how her son would "latch" on to people without thinking.

"Jeffrey's like a kid trapped in a man's body," she said.