Date:
April 27, 2019 (Thursday)
Location:
Vall d’Albaida, Otinyent, Valencia, Spain
Situation:
Missing
Mark Palmer
Nickname: Marky
Alternative Name: Unknown
Disappearance
Missing from: Vall d’Albaida, Otinyent, Valencia, Spain
Date Missing: October 1, 2020 (Thursday)
Taken By: Unknown
Circumstances:
Mark Palmer moved to Spain in December 2018 in the search of a new start and hopefully brighter future. His family has remarked on his struggles with anxiety and depression, but he appeared to be doing well after first moving.
Tragically, it appears things may have gone downward in the early months of 2019. Those who last saw Mark described him as ‘distress’ and potentially suicidal (GoFundMe) and he may have been struggling with alcohol. Mark is also very clever and much beloved by family and friends. He has a passion for music, and the abandonment of his precious instruments (Guitars and a Piano) is all the more concerning. There is concern Mark may have attempted suicide, although family members also believe and hope he is simply wandering from place to place.
The last confirmed sighting of Mark was around 10:30am on April 27, 2019 by a friend in Otinyent, Spain in the Vall d’Albaida district. He had previously sent a WhatsApp message to a friend saying he was contemplating suicide and had drugs, rope, and alcohol ready (ThinkSpain). However, no such items have been recovered.
A tattoo artist who had helped him in the past offered a possible sighting on the day of his disappearance. She believed she saw him that morning in a red jacket. There was also another possible sighting in Elda-Petrer & Sax in the Valencia region. Search of nearby railway stations brought two possible sightings of Mark at a football stadium and a possible homeless centre elsewhere, but nothing came of it.
The police brought out search dogs, helicopters, and drones along with many volunteers helping on the weekends. Mark’s family have been working with community support to fly back and forth between the UK and Spain whenever possible to maintain the search, and at this point are personally sponsoring and mobilizing most of the search efforts. They are asking all locals, expatriates, and tourists to watch for him and report any sightings.
Areas covered have included the Riu Clariá, Clariana River, and other nearby wooded areas, rivers, and caves. Unfortunately the area is filled with difficult terrain making the search incredibly complex. The flooding in Fall 2019 made things significantly more difficult for searchers as well.
Police attempted to access his phone but have not found anything there or on CCTV records. His bank accounts are believed to have been left untouched. In June 2019, they reported to the family that the investigation has stalled and they are waiting for new leads to have something to go on.
Each and every death by suicide is preventable, and it’s heartbreaking to lose someone in this way. Even more devastating is to lose someone and not be able to find them, to not have any closure, to be stuck in this limbo – ” ’cause it turns out hell will not be found within the fires below, but in making do and muddling through when you’ve nowhere else to go.”
“Less hasty am I than the wind, yet I must go.
We wanderers, ever speaking the lonelier way,
begin no day where we have ended another day;
and no sunrise finds us where sunset left us.”
Claire Elek (Mark’s Sister) (GoFundMe)
Key Descriptors
- Date of Birth:
- Age at Disappearance: 32
- Ethnicity: Caucasian
- Nationality: British
- Gender at Birth: Male
- Hair: Ginger
- Eye Color: Hazel
- Height: 5′ 11″ (180cm)
- Weight: Slim
Distinguishing Marks or Factors
- Possibly Unshaven or Beard
- Mental Stability Concerns (Depression).
Clothing
- White T-Shirt
- Black DeWalt pants with white pain marks
- May be carrying a drawstring bag
- May be carrying a yellow rope.
If You or Anyone You Know Has Information About The Disappearances, Please Contact +44 (7903) 972-271 or (if in UK) 0800 098 8485. Or email: ops@lbtrust.org
Distinguishing Marks or Factors
- Dunstable Today (2019) ‘Dunstable family’s plea to find missing son’, Dunstable Gazette Herald and Post, 7 May. Available from: Link
- Elek, C. (2020) GoFundMe. Available from: Link
- Euro Weekly News (2019) ‘HELP FIND MARK: Family issue public appeal to find missing Brit in Spain’, Link
- Laura (2020) ‘MISSING! MARK PALMER JR’, Bay Radio, 5 February. Available from: Link
- Lucie Blackman Trust (2019) ‘Mark Palmer’. Available from: Link
- Missing Person. ‘Mark Palmer’. Available from: Link
- Parfitt, J. (2019) ‘Missing Mark Palmer allegedly sighted near Sax and Elda-Petrer on Spain’s Costa Blanca as family returns home after third search expedition’, The Olive Press, 11 June. Available from: Link
- ThinkSpain (2019) ‘Family of missing Mark Palmer urge expats to help in search’, 14 June. Available from: Link
- WebSleuths (2019) ‘Spain – Mark Palmer, 32, Otinyent Area, 27 April 2019.’ Available from: Link
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