The friends of a Super League rugby star who has been missing for six months say they fear he has come to harm.
Former St Helens and Wigan Warriors prop forward Bryn Hargreaves was reported missing from his home in Whisper Creek outside Morgantown, West Virginia, on January 16. After downstairs neighbours reported water leaking in from his flat above, officers found the property unlocked with all his belongings left behind and his shower still running.
After retiring from the sport, Bryn, 36, began working as a gas and oil pipe safety inspector and had lived alone in the three-bedroom apartment after his divorce from Amy Bombard, 36, two years ago.
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His family, from Wigan, feared the 6’2” Challenge Cup winner might have “done something to himself” – but now his friends fear he may have been abducted, reports The Mirror.
One said: “There’s just no way I could see he’d ever do anything to harm himself. As soon as the news emerged that Bryn had vanished, I immediately thought of those capable of causing him harm. Many of us know them.
“In the industry we work in, it’s run like the Mob. Not just pipes but concrete boots are a trade tool if someone stands in the way of the wrong guys. Bryn didn’t allow anyone to cut corners, which may have upset some. I have a strong opinion over who that may be.”
Bryn married Florida native Amy in 2013 after they met in Mexico as his rugby career was coming to an end. The promise of a job through Amy’s family in Pennsylvania made a move to the US easier, his friends said. Bryn earned around £422 a day, sometimes working seven days a week, as an inspector signing off on pipe installations.
He wed Amy in a ceremony in Pittsburgh attended by both their families. Their marriage appeared to be solid, but four years on they had started to live apart. Court documents obtained by the Mirror show Amy declined marriage counselling, saying she believed the union was “irretrievably broken”.
A friend of the former rugby star said: “When Bryn and Amy married he was so happy. You couldn’t wipe the smile off his face. Everyone thought they had the most beautiful marriage, so it was a huge shock to learn they divorced.
“It must have devastated him but there is no way he’d harm himself. It smacks of others’ involvement.”
After the divorce, Bryn moved 40 miles to the university city of Morgantown, West Virginia. His family say he struggled to settle there, and a neighbour said that while Bryn was always polite he “kept himself to himself”, and often would not be seen for days.
Last December, Bryn was involved in an accident in his Jeep, leaving him with severe pain in his back and unable to drive, instead relying on Uber to get around. Bryn’s brother Gareth, 38, said: “He got a job in the middle of nowhere, then when Covid hit he was completely isolated. He really struggled with his mental health.
“We tried to get him to come home so many times. He kept saying he was planning to in the new year. I spoke to him just before Christmas and that was the plan. The last people to speak to him on January 3 were me and my brother and he seemed fine.”
A third friend of the rugby player said he would never accept Bryn would harm himself. He said: “He was strong both physically and mentally. Of course, people suffer in silence, and Bryn may have, but I can’t believe he would do something to himself. I hope the police are looking further into his private life. There must be something in that.”
All three of Bryn’s friends spoke independently, unaware of what the others had said. Their names have been omitted due to fears of violence they believe they would face if identified.
So far, no one can give a date or location where Bryn was last seen or what he was wearing, and this has hindered attempts to find him. Sniffer dogs were deployed to look for him, joined by over 70 volunteer searchers, but to no avail.
The Mirror counted numerous CCTV cameras in the area, but police and the flats’ leasing office refused to say if Bryn had been spotted on them at the time of his disappearance. Three possible sightings of him were reported in March, but nothing came of them.
Bryn’s family have now hired their own private detective in the US, funded by donations. Their frustration with the police investigation is clear on their GoFundMe page, which says: “Despite gathering further information and investigating many avenues, there are still NO LEADS OR PROGRESS.” They add: “We have some leads that may lead to criminal outcomes.”
Gareth said: “I think the police thought he’d done something to himself, and that certainly is a possibility that we also fear. But months later, surely a body would have turned up.”
Monongalia County Sheriff’s Office and the man leading the investigation, Detective Stephen Currie, declined repeated requests to meet the Mirror.
Bryn’s family said they were too upset to speak this week.
If you want to donate to the fund to help find Bryn, please visit this website. More information is also available on www.findbrynjack.com
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