“We will stay as long as we need to, we are not leaving Dublin without our brother. That's how it is,” says the brother of an Icelandic man who is missing in Dublin since Saturday, February 9.
David Karl Vihelm said that it is very common in Iceland to organise searches for missing persons. Twelve members of the family are in Dublin searching for the missing taxi driver.
“This is very common back home, we have SAR teams (Search And Rescue) so if someone goes missing this is what happens, we send out a search party to find the person.
“We are finishing up our assigned search areas, now we are organising with a team of locals and the SAR specialists a huge search on Saturday. It starts at 9.30am.”
Jon Jonsson came to Dublin on Friday, February 8, with his fiancé to participate in a poker tournament.
“He arrived in the hotel on Friday, February 8, he was last seen following day, we tracked his movement with CCTV, he last seen walking up the Swords Road, close to the Highfield hospital area, that's the last known movement, he was staying in the Bonnington hotel, he left hotel room and is seen walking up the street.
“When he left the hotel room, he left his phone behind, it had been having battery problems, we’re not sure why he didn't take it with him.
"He left without his passport, wallet or phone. We've tracked his activity online, there’s been no activity on his cards, he might have had some cash on him, we're uncertain.
“If he had cash it was not that much, we're talking maybe a few thousand euros.
"That was for the poker tournament, we didn't find any money in the hotel room. We can't think of any reason why he disappeared.
“His fiancée reported him missing the day after, since then we have been working closely with the garda who are doing a great job.
“We do not know why he left the hotel, his fiancé went to the bar area for a coffee, when she came back he was gone.”
Mr Karl Vihelm said that his brother’s physical and mental health, “to our knowledge, was just normal, he has no history of any mental health diseases or medications".
He had never gone missing before. This is very unlike him. He works as a taxi driver back home, if he works late or something he always reports back to his family or fiancé. He is a father of four children. This is out of character for him.
“He is the oldest of five siblings, he has a mother and a father, we're all very close. Iceland is a small community, we are 360,000 people, everyone knows everyone so this has been a really hard time for the family and close ones.
“When we heard he had gone missing we hoped it would be solved soon, two days later we decided to come here, we hoped it would be sorted quickly. It was clear then that we had to take steps, the first was to get the word out to the public, by making this as public as possible.”
The case has generated a lot of media attention in Iceland, he said.
“On the third day we decided to set up a specialist search with the help of SAR specialists from Iceland, so we set up searching areas that we have been scanning, ever since then, we have searched hundreds of kilometres, focussing on searching and hanging up fliers and posters, with picture and information about Jon.
"Then we have a team back in Iceland focussing on social media, getting the word out.
“We are extremely grateful that we have had wonderful support from the local people here, they've been helping us searching, transportation, offering accommodation, so yes, very kind people offering to help us.”
Anyone who has seen Jon or who can assist in locating him is asked to contact Ballymun Garda Station on 01 6664400, the Garda Confidential Telephone Line 1800 666 111, or any garda station.
