University of Alabama student missing in Spain, foul play suspected
A University of Alabama student has been reported missing after visiting a nightclub in Barcelona, Spain, and NewsNation affiliate WIAT reports police suspect foul play.
Jimmy Gracey, from Elmhurst, Illinois, hasn’t been seen since the early hours of Tuesday, March 17.
His mother, Therese Marren Gracey, said on Facebook that Gracey had been in Barcelona visiting friends who were studying abroad.
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He had visited beachfront club Shôko Barcelona with a friend on Monday night. The friend left, but he stayed.
Gracey confirmed that police had her son’s phone, but he did not return to the Airbnb where he was staying.
It is not clear how the police got his phone.
WIAT says a Barcelona reporter told the network that police are reviewing surveillance video and suspect foul play.
Police reportedly looked at CCTV video and saw Jimmy Gracey outside the club and said he left with someone else. The investigation is in the stage of trying to determine where he went.
The person he was with has not been identified, nor do police know that person’s relation to Gracey.
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In a statement, the University of Alabama said Gracey was on a personal trip, and they are in touch with the family to offer support.
The president of his fraternity chapter, Cavin McLay, is also in Barcelona. He told NewsNation in a statement, “Jimmy is a beloved brother and a man of upstanding character. He serves as a mentor to younger classes in our chapter and guides our brothers on their journey with their Faith as our Chaplain. He also serves as one of our Philanthropy Chairman and devotes his time to giving back to others. He’s the guy that goes out of his way to be there when someone needs it. We’re working closely and appreciate the support from Senator Britts office, the State Department, the US Embassy here in Barcelona, the UA administration and student body, Theta Chi IHQ, and everyone else involved. Thank you to everyone sharing the story and helping to raise awareness. We’re keeping our heads up and remaining hopeful that we find him safe.”
Jimmy Gracey is 6 ft, 1 inch tall and weighs 175 pounds. He was wearing a white T-shirt and dark pants before he disappeared, along with a gold chain with a rhinestone cross.
Foul play eyed in disappearance of Alabama student James Gracey from Spanish club after suspicious video emerges: report
Foul play is suspected in the disappearance of a University of Alabama student who vanished after a night partying with friends in Spain, according to local reports.
James Paul Gracey, 20, was seen on security footage leaving a hip Barcelona nightclub with an unidentified person around 3 a.m. Tuesday, a reporter for the Spanish newspaper El Periódico told CBS 42.
That footage led police to suspect somebody might be involved in Gracey’s disappearance.
James Paul Gracey hasn’t been seen since Tuesday, and police suspect foul play.Therese Gracey
Gracey — who goes by Jimmy — hasn’t been seen since he spent the night partying with friends at the world-renowned Shoko club. His friends left the club around 3 a.m., but Gracey opted to stay behind.
He was reported missing when he failed to turn up at their residence the next day.
The native of Elmhurst, Illinois, is a junior at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, and was visiting friends studying abroad in Spain when he disappeared.
Investigators have reportedly recovered his phone, with Catalonia police telling NBC News that they were working on an “open investigation.”
Searches are reportedly underway across Barcelona’s nightlife neighborhoods, and at the residence where Gracey was staying, according to CBS 4
“Police have his phone but he didn’t make it back to the air bnb. Has anyone see him?” she posted on a Facebook page for students studying in Barcelona.
The high-flying club where Gracey and his friends were partying was ranked the seventh best club in the world and number one in Barcelona last year by Nightlife International.
Family of US college student missing in Barcelona, Spain, pleads for information
An undated photo of University of Alabama student James Gracey, who was reported missing in Barcelona on March 17.
Gracey Family
An American college student visiting friends for spring break has gone missing in Spain, his family said, adding police there have his phone.
James “Jimmy” Gracey, a 20-year-old junior at the University of Alabama, was last seen by a friend around 3 a.m. local time Tuesday outside Barcelona’s Shoko club near Port Olímpic, relatives said in a statement.
He was reported missing after he failed to return that morning to his short-term rental, his mother, Therese Gracey, said in a post on Facebook. He was last seen wearing a white shirt, dark pants and a chain with a gold rhinestone cross, his family said, adding he is about 6-foot-1 and 175 pounds.
Police have James Gracey’s phone, according to his mother, who said it was recovered after being stolen. The Catalan police force, Mossos d’Esquadra, is investigating, it said without providing more details.
“Jimmy is a kind, responsible, and devoted son and brother. It is completely out of character for him not to check in with family and friends,” a statement from the family said. “We ask that you keep Jimmy in your thoughts as we continue to do everything we can to bring him home safely.”
The US State Department declined to provide details, citing “privacy concerns and other considerations.”
CNN has reached out to the nightclub to learn how it is working with authorities.
Gracey, of Chicago suburb Elmhurst, Illinois, was visiting friends who are studying abroad, according to his family, which is pleading for the public’s help in finding him.
University of Alabama student James Gracey on the night he went missing in Barcelona, according to his mother Therese Gracey.
Gracey Family
While Gracey was on a personal trip, University of Alabama “staff are in touch with the family and those associated with them to offer support and assistance in any way possible,” the school told CNN.
Gracey, the eldest of five children, has a flight booked for Saturday to travel back to the United States, according to his uncle, David Gracey, who is a CNN senior producer in Washington, DC. The college student’s father traveled to Barcelona to aid in the search for his son, according to a family spokesperson.
He isn’t known to be out of touch with family, David Gracey said of his nephew, noting he is an avid hockey player and a responsible young man who helps his parents take care of his younger siblings.
At the University of Alabama, James Gracey is a member of Theta Chi fraternity, where he serves as the chapter’s chaplain and philanthropy chairman, said chapter president Cavin McLay.
“He’s the guy that goes out of his way to be there when someone needs it,” he said in a statement. “We’re keeping our heads up and remaining hopeful that we find him safe.”
6 min read
Last year, another US college student went missing while on spring break.
Sudiksha Konanki, a 20-year-old University of Pittsburgh student, vanished at the beach of the Riu República Hotel in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic early on March 6, 2025. Her disappearance prompted a frantic search by air, sea and land, involving authorities from the United States, the Dominican Republic and India, where Konanki’s family is originally from. She remains missing.
The US State Department has recommendations for how to stay safe traveling abroad and what to do if a loved one goes missing. If a US citizen relative or friend is not responding to communications, officials recommend notifying the police, both in the location where they were last known to be or where you think they’re missing, and the State Department’s Overseas Citizens Services office in Washington, DC, or your nearest US Embassy or Consulate. From the US and Canada, the Overseas Citizens Services office can be contacted at 1-888-407-4747.
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