{"id":7051,"date":"2026-03-19T10:08:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T10:08:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/7051\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T10:08:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T10:08:07","slug":"james-graceys-frat-brother-recalls-last-moments-before-alabama-students-disappearance-in-barcelona","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/7051\/","title":{"rendered":"James Gracey’s frat brother recalls last moments before Alabama student’s disappearance in Barcelona"},"content":{"rendered":"

A fraternity brother of missing University of Alabama student <\/a>James Paul Gracey recalled the last moments he spent with the 20-year-old inside a Barcelona nightclub before his disappearance.<\/p>\n

Gracey, who goes by Jimmy, had been hanging out with a group of friends during his spring break trip to Spain when he was separated from his pals inside the world-renowned Shocko club on Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, he was separated from the rest of the group later into the night, and that was the last time we\u2019ve heard from him,\u201d Cavin McLay told WBMA<\/a> on Wednesday. <\/p>\n

University of Alabama student James Gracey was reported missing after last being seen at a Barcelona nightclub on March 17, 2026. Therese Gracey<\/p>\n

Gracey and McLay are both part of the Theta Chi fraternity at the University of Alabama, where the pair met as freshmen and rushed together, according to WVTM.<\/a><\/p>\n

Gracey, an Elmhurst, Illinois, native who is studying accounting, was reported missing after he failed to return to the Airbnb where he had been staying.<\/p>\n

The junior was seen on surveillance footage<\/a> leaving the hip nightclub with an unidentified person at around 3 a.m. Tuesday, a reporter for the Spanish newspaper El Peri\u00f3dico\u00a0told CBS 42<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That footage led police to suspect somebody might be involved in Gracey\u2019s disappearance.<\/p>\n

McLay described his missing \u201cbrother\u201d as a \u201cgreat person, a man of upstanding character. One of those people that\u2019s there for anyone when they ever need it,\u201d he told WVTM.<\/p>\n

In October, Gracey was elected to serve as the chaplain of the fraternity\u2019s executive board, saying he was looking forward to \u201cleading with integrity, promoting a values-based culture and supporting the personal and spiritual growth of the chapter,\u201d according to his LinkedIn.<\/p>\n

Gracey was last seen wearing a white shirt, dark pants and a gold chain with a rhinestone cross. Therese Gracey<\/p>\n

Cavin McLay speaks out after Gracey\u2019s disappearance on March 18, 2026. WVTM13<\/p>\n

Gracey, an Elmhurst, Illinois, native studying accounting at the University of Alabama, was reported missing after he failed to return to the Airbnb where he had been staying. Therese Gracey<\/p>\n

\u201cHe serves as a mentor for our younger guys and guides our brothers on their journey with their faith,\u201d McLay told the outlet. \u201cAnd he also serves as one of our philanthropy chairmen and devotes his time to giving back to others.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since his disappearance, the group of friends has come together with Gracey\u2019s family, helping in the search for the college student.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re out on the beach right now handing out flyers just getting as many eyes as we possibly can looking out for him,\u201d McLay said.<\/p>\n

(L-R) Cavon McClay, Brodie Beebe and James Gracey. @thetachialabama\/Instagram<\/p>\n

Gracey had been hanging out with a group of friends during his spring break trip to the Spanish city when he was separated from his pals inside the world-renowned Shocko club. Europa Press via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s tough. We\u2019re doing everything we can to keep our heads up and remain hopeful that we find him safe, but it\u2019s a tough time. And, you know, we\u2019re scared,\u201d McLay said. <\/p>\n

\u201cHis dad landed here this morning. We\u2019ve been working closely with local authorities and Sen. (Katie) Britt\u2019s office, the State Department, US embassy here in Barcelona.\u201d<\/p>\n

Catalonia police have opened an investigation into Gracey\u2019s disappearance, revealing his phone was recovered by officials.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe went into the station, and they told us that they had his phone,\u201d McLay told WBMA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A fraternity brother of missing University of Alabama student James Paul Gracey recalled the last moments he spent…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7052,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1781,5659,8,2287,9,5660,535,7,5661,106],"class_list":{"0":"post-7051","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-stories","8":"tag-alabama","9":"tag-barcelona","10":"tag-headlines","11":"tag-missing-persons","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-nightclubs","14":"tag-spain","15":"tag-top-stories","16":"tag-university-of-alabama","17":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@news\/116255293591271255","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7051"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7051\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}