The investigation by the Mossos d’Esquadra — the Catalan regional police — into the disappearance of James Gracey, a 20-year-old American student who went missing early Tuesday morning in Barcelona, found that the young man accidentally fell into the water. Footage from security cameras in the area shows him walking alone toward the pier from a distance, then he is seen falling into the water without any third-party involvement, according to police sources.
It was in the same area, near Somorrostro Beach adjacent to the Olympic Port, that divers found Gracey’s body submerged four meters below the surface. An autopsy performed on the body this Friday determined that he died by drowning and ruled out any signs of foul play, according to sources familiar with the case. His father, the attorney Taras Gracey, is in Barcelona and on Thursday was closely following the search efforts at sea, accompanied by investigators working on the case.
Gracey had been on vacation in Barcelona for a few days, taking advantage of spring break at the University of Alabama, where he was studying. Alarms went off early Wednesday morning when the young man didn’t sleep in the short-term rental he was staying at on Ronda de Sant Pere in Barcelona. The plan, after visiting some friends, was to return to Chicago on Saturday, where he lived with his family.
The Mossos had been searching for Gracey for two days, combing through the route the young man might have taken since his friends lost track of him at 3 a.m. at a nightclub called Shoko. But he didn’t get far: the spot where his body was finally recovered is just a few meters from the club, in a popular nightlife area of Barcelona.
While Mossos officers were searching for Gracey, the local police found Gracey’s cell phone, which had been missing. Officers who regularly patrol the beach stopped a pickpocket known to operate in the area. The thief claimed he had found the phone, according to police sources. Upon checking the contacts stored on the phone, the Barcelona police discovered that it belonged to Gracey. The officers do not know whether the young man lost it or whether it was stolen, but they believe it is unrelated to Gracey’s subsequent fall into the sea.
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