Irish woman missing in Gran Canaria found after urgent appeal

Gerard Couzens

Missing Irishwoman Nicole Claire Ryan has been found following an urgent appeal about her whereabouts, Spanish police have revealed.

Detectives took the unusual step of naming her overnight as they ramped up an “urgent” operation to find her.

At lunchtime on Christmas Eve, two days after the 46-year-old disappeared in the south of the holiday island of Gran Canaria, Civil Guard officers said she had been located.

A well-placed source said: “This was being treated as a voluntary disappearance rather than a crime and the missing woman has been found.

“My understanding is she is safe and well.”

A spokesman for the police force said an official statement would be released later.

The fact police named Nicole in an unusual move overnight appeared to indicate there had been major concern for her safety.

The Civil Guard force, revealing Nicole’s family had reported her missing in their initial statement in the early hours of this morning, said: “The Civil Guard has launched a coordinated operation to search for and locate a person reported as missing in the area of Puerto Rico in southern Gran Canaria.

“We were alerted to the 46-year-old woman’s disappearance on December 22 by relatives who reported her missing at the Civil Guard station in Puerto Rico.

“The coordinated search involves citizen security units based in the town of Vecindario in the south-east of the island working with other security and emergency forces.

“The local police covering the municipality of Mogan which Puerto Rico forms part of have also been informed along with other police units so we can intensify the work that’s being done in the area where the woman was reported missing.”