How Africa News
Former British rugby league player Bryn Hargreaves’ body has been discovered more than a year after he went missing, according to his family.
The ex-St Helens star, 37, went missing after failing to show up for work last January, sparking a massive police search.
Bryn was employed as a gas and oil pipe safety inspector at the time of his disappearance and was living alone after his divorce from Amy Bombard two years before.
His disappearance prompted a massive search involving police and tracker dogs.
Gareth Hargreaves, the former player’s older brother, confirmed his death on Facebook 14 months after he was last seen.
His relatives stated he had become ‘isolated’ during the Covid lockdown and said he would relocate back to the UK, but on the last time they spoke to him on January 3 last year ‘he appeared alright’.
Officers arrived at his residence in Morgantown, West Virginia, to find his door unlocked and his shower running, as well as all of his goods, including his phone and Apple laptop, raising concerns that he had been kidnapped.
Announcing the news, his brother Gareth wrote on Facebook yesterday: ‘RIP Bryn Hargreaves. With incredible sadness I can confirm after 14 months we have finally found Bryn.
‘We still do not know the cause of death or what actually happened on 3/1/22. Thanks to all those that have helped in the search.’
His mother Maria Andrews also wrote on social media: ‘Not something I wanted to be sharing. I’m in bits #heartbroken. My beautiful son Bryn. I can’t think of any words to describe the pain xx.’
A spokesman for the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Office said at the time of his disappearance that Bryn was reported missing to them on January 16.
Sniffer dogs were deployed to the Cheat Lake area of Morgantown, but to no avail. Gareth said at the time: ‘It’s almost like he was abducted from his shower.
‘It’s certainly a fear of mine. Obviously he was having mental health issues and in severe pain with his back from a car accident in December.
‘I think the police thought he’d done something to himself and that certainly is a possibility that we also fear. But five months later, surely a body would have turned up.
‘It’s a bit strange if you wanted to disappear to leave your apartment unlocked with all your ID and some of your prized possessions.
‘It’s one of the reasons I can’t leave this. If he’s had a rubbish time and had enough so he’s taken himself away, that’s fair enough.
‘But if something has happened and we didn’t try to help or find him I could never forgive myself.’
Bryn, from Wigan, played 175 games in the Super League for Wigan Warriors, St Helens, and Bradford Bulls.
He left rugby at the age of 26 after growing disillusioned with the game, and then relocated to the United States.
Bryn worked in the oil and gas business and lived in Pittsburgh with his American wife Amy, whom he met in Mexico while on vacation in 2013.
