A SEARCH party has resumed for an eight-year-old boy who went missing on Tuesday afternoon from the tied hamlet of Las Hortichuelas in Níjar (Almería province), after being forced to stop for the night.
Gabriel Cruz Ramírez had gone out at around 15.30 to play with friends at a neighbour's house, barely 100 metres from where his grandmother lives in the Cortijo La Molina area right in the heart of the Cabo de Gata-Níjar nature reserve.
Although the Guardia Civil believes the little boy may have 'got lost', they 'find it strange' that 'nobody has heard or seen anything'.
The child was wearing black Adidas tracksuit bottoms and a red jacket when he was last seen.
Missing persons charity SOS Desaparecidos is offering a €10,000 reward for any information leading to Gabriel's being found.
Police say the area where Gabriel disappeared is 'mountainous', making the search 'difficult'.
His parents did not realise he was missing until 18.00, since they thought he had gone to the neighbour's house as planned.
Gabriel's dad says he wants to urge his son to 'stay strong' because 'he will be found soon', but was far more fearful when interviewed yesterday (Wednesday) morning on TV.
“My son's not here, someone's taken him,” he said.
Although the search had to stop at nightfall yesterday, four Guardia Civil patrol cars remained in the area on the look-out and the 50-plus police officers involved were back on site by sunrise this morning (Thursday).
All Local Police and Guardia Civil officers who could be made available in the Níjar area have been put on the case, complete with sniffer dogs, a police diving team to explore the various pools and lakes in the area, and a helicopter which is searching between Níjar and Carboneras.
Around 150 local residents have joined the hunt as volunteers.
Gabriel normally spends his weekends and school holidays with his grandmother, and had been at her house over the long bank holiday weekend for Andalucía's regional day.
MP in Andalucía Antonio Sanz says the child was reported missing at around 20.00 on Tuesday.
The area is very rural and is occupied by a handful of scattered cottages used as holiday homes, most of which are empty at this time of year, according to Gabriel's mother when interviewed on the programme Espejo Público on Spain's third channel, Antena 3.
Las Hortichuelas has no bars, shops or any other non-domestic premises, where children have always been out playing unsupervised and where 'nothing happens', according to a cousin of Gabriel's father.
