As they appeal to investigators not to be abandoned, a family in Orihuela says that they feel completely helpless over three long months after the disappearance of their son.
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Henry Jimenez Marin has been missing for more than 100 days. The last time he was seen was on 1 January in Orihuela Costa, where he was with friends celebrating the New Year. Photos and videos show that the young man was not alone so as long as there is no body the family say that they will continue to think that there has been no crime and that he is still alive an well.
Henry would have celebrated his 21st birthday on 18 March with his family, all of who miss him day and night. But they say that they struggle to keep the interest in the investigation alive so many months after he first disappeared. “We still know absolutely nothing and we feel that the case is not being treated seriously, as it is now without any resources and it is suffering from inadequate procedures.”
“It is a long, frustrating and heart-breaking road, in all senses and with much suffering as we continue to wait for you. We need the name of Henry to be remembered, “says Gina, the young man’s mother. She still laments the hoaxes about her son’s whereabouts and the 2,000-euro scam attempt that the family had to face a few weeks ago.
Henry’s ambitions for his future were frustrated when he “allegedly abandoned the home he shared with another boy after a supposed fight. From then on, no one seems to know what happened, with each one of the nine people in the house saying that they don’t remember a thing”.
The family say that “he did not take his wallet, he did not carry any documentation, neither his watch nor his mobile phone, objects that were since passed over to the Civil Guard.” Because of this, the family is convinced that Henry did not leave voluntarily, since “he was excited about his studies, he wanted to go to university and he was about to start his driving lessons having passed the theoretical”, said brother Andrés.
Henry was a second-year high school student at the IES Playas de Orihuela and “he has always been a happy boy and a keen sportsman since he was a child, but when he arrived here, the company that he began to keep was not right,” his brother continued.
Of Colombian origin, the family arrived in Spain about fifteen years ago, when Henry was just seven, and with his mother, they settled in Murcia. A little over four years ago they came to the Orihuela Costa. Henry also has a younger sister, who says that her memories of him are never-ending.
“He helped my mother at the hairdressers, he knew languages, he was hardworking and he was a big-hearted and honourable boy,” says Andrés, who thinks the troubles began the day they met a 28-year-old Icelandic boy, with whom his brother Henry subsequently lived in Calle del Fenix in Las Mimosas, in Orihuela Costa.
The family say that they still have little information about the situation. “We have travelled from Murcia to Alicante with the help of many people who have been undying in their support and in the initiatives we have carried out, such as raffles and videos of famous people who have supported our search for more than three months. But we still need to find answers about what happened to my son, “the mother says.
Andrés however is now becoming increasingly critical of the many friends and parents who seem to have disconnected from the actions taken to find him. “The worst thing is to see the disinterest on the part of those people who were with him on the night he disappeared, those who were considered to be his friends.”
