“It started to become very worrying, very quickly,” the missing man’s half-sister said
NEED TO KNOW
- A 34-year-old British sailor’s boat was found with his dog on board near the Canary Islands on Aug. 25
- A week before, his family became concerned after he lost contact
- Around the time he was last seen, both his passport and backpack were stolen
A week after a British sailor disappeared, his boat and his miniature Jack Russell Terrier were found 100 miles from his last known location near the Canary Islands in Spain.
On Monday, Aug. 25, 34-year-old James Nunan’s boat was found miles off the coast of Gran Canaria, the BBC, The Times and The Telegraph reported. His 18-month-old puppy, Thumbelina, was found alive on board and taken to a shelter on the island, according to The Telegraph.
The man, who began a sailing trip around the world in March, had last made contact with his family the week before.
“It started to become very worrying, very quickly,” Nunan’s half-sister, Nikita Goddard, told the BBC.
The family, Spanish authorities and the British Embassy in Madrid did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s requests for comment.
Nunan, known as “Jemsie” by his loved ones, worked as a bricklayer to pay for his trip around the globe, and planned on traveling to Brazil, according to the BBC.
A previous trip to Scotland inspired Nunan to buy his boat, Kehaar, which eventually led to his bigger venture that began almost six months ago.
By mid-August, his mother became concerned when she didn’t hear from Nunan for their normal check-in.
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“She last spoke to him on Aug. 18 — it was a Monday — and by the Wednesday, my mum started to get a bit worried. I believe it was Friday, Aug. 22, when she reported him as a missing person,” Goddard told The Telegraph.
On Aug. 18, Nunan recorded a Facebook Live while he walked around with people on Playa del Confital beach, followed by a visit to Paddy’s Anchor bar in Las Palmas, where he told another man he planned on traveling to Lanzarote, another of the Canary Islands, the BBC reported.
By 10:49 p.m. local time, Nunan bought dinner at a kebab spot, as shown on CCTV. His backpack was stolen outside of the restaurant, though he was seen there eating food with his passport around his neck. The next day, on Tuesday, Aug. 19, his passport was reported “lost or stolen” to the Irish consulate, according to the BBC.
Three days later, his mom reported him missing.
Goddard told The Telegraph, “We are told there was a ‘pan-pan’ alert made in regards to his boat — it’s one step down from a mayday.” The BBC reported that the call took place between Aug. 24 and 25.
According to The BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water, a pan-pan call is “used to signal urgent information, like when someone has fallen overboard, or a boat is drifting into shore or a busy shipping channel.”
The discovery of the Kehaar without Nunan on board would come hours later. After the boat was recovered, the missing man’s family pleaded again for information on social media.
“If anyone sees him call him Jemsie as only friends and family call him that,” his worried mom wrote on Facebook Wednesday, Aug. 27. “Tell him we are looking for him and we have located both Thumbelina and his boat.”
As Nunan’s dad searches for him in Gran Canaria, a spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said the agency is assisting the family, according to The Telegraph.
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“We are supporting the family of a British man who has been reported missing in Spain and are in contact with the local authorities,” the spokesperson told the outlet.
For Nunan’s family, there is fear and many unknowns.
“There’s a lot of questions going around,” Goddard, who recently welcomed her first baby, told the BBC. “It’s just become crazy, to say the least. It’s not been easy.”