Man arrested after 'giving shelter' to teenage boy reported missing on eastern Costa del Sol

The Guardia Civil have arrested an adult who, apparently, "gave shelter" to the teenage boy, Marc Ian, who had been missing since Monday in Rincón de la Victoria on the eastern Costa del Sol. The youngster, who was found on the night of Wednesday 17 September in the El Palo area of Malaga city, had stayed with adult for the two days he was missing, sources have confirmed to SUR .

The disappearance of the 14-year-old boy, which had kept his family in suspense and had been widely publicised on social media networks, was solved late on Wednesday. At around 10.30pm, a member of the public went to the Local Police station in El Palo to report that he had seen a minor whose physical description matched that of Marc Ian and who was in the company of an adult "with a ponytail" in the Playa Virginia area.

The officers immediately activated a search operation which soon produced results. The teenager and the man who was with him were located at a bus stop next to the El Tintero restaurant, situated at the eastern end of El Palo beach, next to the port of El Candado.

According to the sources consulted, the man he was with told the officers that he had met the teenager a couple of days earlier and admitted that he had given him shelter in the tent where he was staying in the Peñón del Cuervo area. The adult, Spanish, about 35 years old and with no previous convictions, acknowledged that on Tuesday - a day after having found him - he discovered through social media networks that the minor had absconded from his home, but decided to help him.

Apparently, the teenage boy confirmed this version and stated that the adult had treated him well at all times. However, Guardia Civil officers are investigating to clarify the facts and verify what happened in the 48 hours that the boy was missing. They are investigating the detainee's possible involvement in the disappearance, although, according to sources, everything suggests that the adult "only gave him shelter".

The police are trying to determine whether the detainee has committed an offence of breach of custody of a minor for failing to notify the family or the authorities that he had located the boy, although the investigation is still at a very early stage and could take any other direction.

The teenager, who went missing on Monday morning, said goodbye to his grandmother as he left the house to go to school, as he usually did, although this time she noticed a "strange" attitude in her grandson. She noticed that he was carrying a pillow, a sandwich, a backpack full of clothes and the juices that his parents had bought him for the whole week among his belongings. He never arrived at the school and for more than 48 hours nothing was heard from him.