FIRST ON FOX: Spanish authorities confirmed to Fox News Digital on Tuesday that Jimmy Gracey’s signature gold chain and rhinestone cross have not been found as part of the investigation into the 20-year-old’s death.
Carles Valles, a spokesperson for the Mossos d’Esquadra, the regional Catalan police, confirmed that the necklace has not been found.
Only a day after the 20-year-old University of Alabama junior’s body was found in the water near Port Olimpic, a marina on the Mediterranean Sea just a few hundred feet from where he and friends had been partying at the famed Shoko nightclub, police concluded that Gracey’s death was accidental.
During a two-day search from March 17 to March 19, police located Gracey’s phone in the possession of a person who was wanted in connection with a separate crime. His wallet, containing money, credit cards and identification, was found floating in the water.
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Results of an autopsy and toxicology report have not been released.
Jason Pack, a former FBI analyst, said the story of the evidence gathered in the case must be filtered through the lens of the grieving Gracey family.
“Spanish authorities have ruled his death accidental. Surveillance footage reportedly shows him walking alone toward the water. The autopsy points to drowning. And the man arrested with Jimmy’s phone is believed to have simply found it on the street,” Pack told Fox News Digital. “Spanish investigators cleared him of involvement and charged him with illegal possession of stolen property. That explanation seems plausible with the right context — like if the trauma was postmortem.”
MISSING UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA STUDENT JIMMY GRACEY FOUND DEAD IN BARCELONA
“What lingers are a few details that haven’t been fully explained publicly,” he said. “Some reports have raised questions about certain forensic language in the preliminary autopsy findings. His wallet came back intact: cash, cards, ID all there … which Spanish police say supports the conclusion he wasn’t targeted.”
“His gold chain, which he’s wearing in the last known photo of him alive, has not been recovered. That may mean nothing. Breakwaters are unforgiving and currents are strong,” he continued. “But families don’t get to grieve cleanly when questions are still lingering. Hopefully, Spanish authorities have already sat down with the Graceys privately and walked them through every detail.”
“A family that raised a young man like Jimmy clearly knows something about faith and grace,” he said. “I’m praying they find both in the days ahead.”
Gracey was laid to rest in his hometown of Elmhurst, Ill. on Tuesday.
Fox News Digital’s Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.
