Ben disappeared in Ibiza while uploading photos of storm Gloria to Instagram

The British went to the beach to immortalize the storm, his family believes that the sea swallowed him. They found his Harley, his jacket and his watch | In Mallorca, another young man lost track the same day when he was rappelling

Snow, wind, rain and towering waves. It baptized as Gloria and hit Spain (Valencia, Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, Andalusia, Asturias, Aragon…) in January 2020. It caused countless damage. Thirteen people died, two disappeared. In Mallorca, David Cabrera, an expert canyoner, was surprised by the storm in the middle of a descent. In Ibiza, Ben.

Funny, smiling, affectionate. Pure energy. Prankster, supportive, motorcycle lover. Benjamin Garland had been living in Spain for two years. He liked the weather, the sea. He studied engineering, but became a marine. The 25-year-old left the UK, but never his family. He came and went, though his life, the next chapter of his. he was here. On January 21, 2020 his trail was lost In ibiza. Ben got on his bike, his passion. Storm Gloria had stopped, they said in the press. They did not see him again.

“He was off work that day,” recalls his father, Mark. “Ben decided to take a motorcycle ride to the coast of Portinax, in the north of Ibiza.” From Wiltshire (UK), Mark Garland welcomes OPEN CASE, portal of events and investigation of Prensa Ibérica. “Storm Gloria was slowly fading but the sea was still rough and upon reaching Portinatx Ben made the decision to film the big waves. Unfortunately that decision led him to get closer,” he laments, “we think a rogue wave dragged him.” The sea swallowed him.

In the last video that Ben posted on his networks, you can see how a large wave crashes against a rock on which he is standing and the young man is heard letting out a nervous laugh.

The alarm went off soon. It was a classmate of Ben’s who turned it on.. “I had left at noon,” recalls Mark. The night came and did not return. The captain of the boat in which he worked notified the 112 emergency service that his partner had not returned. They knew, thanks to social networks, where to look. “Ben posted 3 or 4 stories On Instagram the afternoon she disappeared,” recalls her father.

“They were about the sea and the waves. The last video was big, a wave crashing against a rock that he was on. In the short clip you can see the water on his boots, and Ben is heard letting out a small nervous laugh.…then it ended.”

The Gloria storm left winds of 110 kilometers per hour in the Balearic Islands, and a historic wave of 14.2 meters on the island of Sa Dragonera.

That day, the news echoed: the Gloria storm left winds of 110 kilometers per hour in the Balearic Islands, and a historic wave on the island of Sa Dragonera of 14.2 meters. The headlines reported the tragedy. ravaged Spain. Ben still gave no sign. He did not arrive. It didn’t come.

The location of their latest posts was tracked. His motorcycle was found, his beloved Harley Davidson Sportster 1200 cc, parked on the same coast. “Yet we were hoping it was somewhere elsethat he would have slipped while walking towards the lighthouse, would have hurt himself and could not walk.

Emergencies, the Civil Guard, Maritime Rescue. They all searched. His family, led by Mark himself, joined. They arrived in Spain. Shock set in. Without news. Without a trace. Nothing was wearing Ben.

“On the third day of searching, the rescue team found his jacket floating in the sea, with his documentation and sunglasses in the pockets,” recalls Mark. “On the fourth day, my son Jake, my daughter Leanne, and I we visited the rocks where ben had been. We did it when the sea had calmed and the water levels had dropped, in search of my son’s helmet or phone. I found his watch, with a damaged strap, just below where Ben had been filming. This pointed more and more to the fact that he had fallen or been swept away and was now lost there.” The water returned his things. He never gave Ben back.

“The authorities Spanish girls were amazing at finding it and honestly I think they did everything they could to find it. They never lost hope. It was painstaking and dedicated work,” Mark enthuses.

After three weeks on the island, the Garlands had to leave. It was, he describes, the saddest journey he has ever faced. “We had to go back home… I live with a feeling of loss and constant pain,” she laments. “assuming that maybe I will never find it. One of the hardest things. I carry Ben in my heart all the time. I miss him every second of every hour. I miss his laugh, his voice and all his little adventures he’s been on.”

“I have fallen in love with the sea”

Engineer by training; fun, adventurous, but slow, rational. “He thought a lot about everything. Even on the occasions when he made an impulsive decision, he did it rationally,” his father smiles. He thought about it, valued it and did it: he drew a new life. The change.

“He was invited to Palma de Mallorca for an occasional job on a super yacht,” recalls Mark, “He had an annual route, Ibiza-Palma. He flew to Spain and worked 3 months on the yacht. She fell in love with the boating community, with the sea.”

When his contract ended, he “came home” but had been scarred. “He decided that he wanted to work in this industry, so he came back and started walking the docks looking for work“, says his father. “He found several odd jobs, but none permanent, and was getting a bit discouraged until he was offered to return, permanently, to the first ship he had worked on.”

“He had to complete several courses in the UK before starting,” recalls Mark. “He passed all his exams. I remember that on January 27, 2019 I took him to the airport to fly to Ibiza to start the next chapter of his life.” Ben was happy.

Driving test

He settled in Spain, although he never left his family. “He had been on the island for two years when she disappeared.” The Garlands, a tight-knit band, were in constant communication. “He came home for Christmas. He stayed in the UK to take his last test. It was a driver’s license. We had a celebratory meal with the whole family on the Saturday before I flew back to Ibiza. and, unfortunately, it disappeared on the 21st. I still have the envelope with the license in my kitchen.” It is closed, intact. “I dare not open it.”

The rock

“Almost three years have passed since that fateful day,” laments his father. Now, life is different, Mark confesses. “I miss the old me, the person I was before Ben disappeared. I’m afraid I’ll never be the same person again.” He thinks about the rock. And, whenever they can – which everyone can – they return to that place. They fly to Ibiza. They sit in the last place where they know that Ben He was there. The one who immortalized. The one who uploaded to Instagram.

“Ben is my hero”, describe. He sits and feels you. She feels that she is there, in Ibiza. By the sea she feels good. He remembers the “solidarity army” that gave everything to find him. “I know that the search, after almost three years, is obviously over.“, he laments, “but during the routine patrols of the civil guards, around the island, I know that they are still looking for Ben.”

He talks about the agents, the islanders and talks about Fani Tur: “together with his dog and friends, they traveled the coast looking for my son and never gave up until they looked at the whole island.” He cannot forget, either, Marilina Ramon and her son Pau. “They were a prop for me, my strength, my going. For my family and friends. They made sure we were fed and cared for while we were out there looking,” Mark enthuses. “They keep doing it. Now I visit Ibiza every year to remember Ben and visit the rocks. I hold very close to my heart all the people who helped and supported me while I was there.”

Ben embraced life, sums up his father. “He improved everyone’s. He marked us all,” his father smiles affectionately. “When people suffer, others reach out and provide support. Ben did, but the difference is, when the moment passed, Ben is still there.. She always said, ‘you’ll never be alone as long as I’m around.

Mark imagines him reading, writing, “he loved it.” He remembers him listening to music, “he was often seen with a guitar, singing.” He didn’t say goodbye.

“Another pain is added to my pain, I live with the loss of Ben’s older sister, Charlotte. She died of cancer this year, on March 23. She left without knowing what happened to her brother,” she laments. “I’m not just sorry. I feel so many different emotions that it is almost impossible to put into words. But I have family that needs me. Nothing can take away the pain of losing my beautiful children, or having to live without them, but I will not give up. Losing my daughter was very traumatic and sad, but I was prepared for it, we had a diagnosis, and I was able to let her rest, say goodbye, which I can’t do for Ben.” She waits for the call that tells her he has shown up. She waits to say goodbye. He hopes no one forgets Ben.