Family of missing former Wigan and St Helens Rugby League player believe he 'may have been abducted'

The family of a former Rugby League player believe he may have been abducted after he vanished five months ago with no trace.

Bryn Hargreaves, who used to play for Wigan and St Helens, disappeared from his home in West Virginia in January sparking a major search by police.

When officers visited the former prop forward's apartment they found it unlocked, all his belongings and ID, and his shower still running.

Now his brother Gareth believes he could have been abducted, and has set up an appeal to raise money for private investigators to look into the disappearance.

Gareth said: "You come to think maybe we should check this out to rule it out.

"I'm not saying he's been abducted, or he's come to harm, but realistically, if we don't check it out, how can we be sure?

"I couldn't live with myself in 40 years time and we found out he had come to harm and we didn't bother to look at it because we just thought the most likely scenario was that he'd caused himself some harm due to his mental state."

Bryn had spent the past 10 years living and working in America in the oil and gas industry after becoming disillusioned with rugby league.

He last spoke to his family on 3 January 2022 where, Gareth says, he "seemed in good spirits, was cracking jokes and quite happy".

But, two weeks later his family in the UK received a message from his work colleagues asking if Bryn was OK as they had not heard from him.

The family asked local police to check and when they did, they discovered the apartment empty, with the shower still running, flooding into the apartment below.

Officers from Monongalia County Sheriff’s Office later found his phone, laptop, passport, green card and wallet, in the apartment still.

Neighbours also reported hearing raised voices and arguing close to the day of his disappearance.

Bryn's mum Maria and Bryn's youngest brother David, 34, travelled to the USA where they spent seven weeks searching for him.

Police dredged a lake in the area and put up missing posters around the town, but eventually his family returned home with no answers.

Now they hope private investigators can help shed some light on what happened.

"It's been devastating to be honest with you," Gareth said. "It's been probably the hardest six months of my life.

"I'm really struggling to be honest and I know my mum is struggling still.

"We had to bring her back from America, not because she didn't want to be there but for her own personal health."

Bryn, who attended school and college in Leyland, moved to West Virginia from Pittsburg after splitting with his wife.

As the pandemic hit, Gareth said his brother was left feeling isolated and had suggested he might move back to the UK. 

He had struggled with his mental health, and his family had urged him to move back home.

But, Gareth said they do not want to assume it was his mental health that caused him to disapper.

"After five months the most likely possibility has become less likely because of so much time," Gareth said.

"If my brother had had a mental health issue and decided to cause himself some harm I would have expected to find something by now.

"If he decided that given his mental state a few life complexities at the time that he was going to take some time out, again we're five months later, he has no means of surviving, no ID, how is that possible?

"There's no trace, he's not a criminal mastermind, he's just a normal human being, he would have left some breadcrumbs to follow, whether he liked to or not."

He is described as 6'2, 220lbs and has a distinct tattoo of his family crest on his right arm.

Bryn played professionally for Wigan Warriors, from 2001 to 2004, before joining St Helens RFC from November 2005 until 2009.

In 2008, he was the starting prop during the Challenge Cup win against Hull FC at Wembley, and joined Bradford Bulls in 2009.

Retiring in 2012 from his career in rugby league, Mr Hargreaves subsequently emigrated to the USA.

If anyone has any information about him, they are being asked to call the Sheriff's Department, or alternatively, contact the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Office’s Facebook page here.