British man, John Joyce, 72, has been missing in Portugal since the 14th July 2017.
At 9.20 am he walked with his pilgrimage group to a studio nearby to see a video about the Children of Fatima. It finished at 10.45. One of the group saw him in front of the Basilica about 10 minutes later. Since then he has not been seen nor heard from. He had left his passport, money, mobile, reading glasses, hat, etc in his hotel, so was obviously not intending to go far before returning to the hotel for lunch at 1pm.
His family and friends are very, very worried and shocked. If he had collapsed, fallen or been taken ill in town he would have been seen and cared for, Fatima was full of pilgrims and visitors that day. If he had strolled out of town and been taken ill or fallen he would have been found by now. The Fatima GNR have done extensive searching of roadsides and verges and nearby woods and found nothing.
The family has now been forced to contemplate ‘darker’ scenarios. Was John either beguiled into accepting a car ride or taken by force to somewhere else? Is he now being held against his will by a group or cult or for some other purpose eg. organ removal?
He is unlikely to have been taken out of Portugal as he did not have his passport.
John’s family would be very grateful if people could be on the lookout for John. He could be anywhere in Portugal. He may now have a beard and may have different clothes on.
He may be very unkempt looking and dirty. He is missing his lower denture. He does speak some Portuguese – with an English accent. If he has lost his memory he may be living on the streets. Wherever he is, he is likely to be very lost looking and confused.
They are also appealing to anyone who was in Fatima on 14th July 17 and was taking photos. Can they check to see whether they accidently captured John’s image (wearing the blue check shirt and blue shorts as in the CCTV photos).
If they can identify where and when the photo was taken can they immediately report it to the Fatima GNR or Hotel Essence Inn Marianos.
Fatima GNR: 00 351 249 530 580
Hotel Essence Inn Marianos: 00 351 249 531 572 (English speakers)
