Bryn Hargreaves: Private investigator begins hunt for missing rugby league player

A private investigator has begun the search for missing ex-rugby league player Bryn Hargreaves in the United States amid fears from his family that potential criminality could be behind his mysterious disappearance.

Hargreaves, 36, was reported missing more than five months ago by his employer after he failed to arrive for work and that sparked a major search by police and tracker dogs in West Virginia.

Repeated attempts to track him down drew a blank, however, and his family have set up a GoFundMe page to raise funds for a private detective to take on the role.

“The police over there aren’t doing anything.” Bryn’s older brother Gareth, 38, said. “There are a few things that have come to light that need to be investigated that haven’t been previously. The only way we can make that happen is through a private investigator. There’s possible leads and motives that could lead to criminal outcomes.”

There's possible leads and motives that could lead to criminal outcomes

The PA news agency has contacted the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Office for comment.

Hargreaves, who played in Super League for Wigan, St Helens and Bradford before moving to the States to work in the oil and gas industry 10 years ago, vanished without trace from his apartment on 3 January and Gareth believes he may have been abducted.

“Bryn had mental health issues and was in severe pain with his back from a car accident in December,” Gareth said. “He’d also been away from his family at Christmas. The most likely scenarios were that he decided to harm himself or had decided to disappear for a bit and come back.

“But five months on, those two possibilities look less likely because you’ve got to think a body would turn up. We had his bank account investigated