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Leeds ‘salute’ led to missing fan being found in Barcelona 10 days after leaving for World Cup

A Leeds ‘salute’ led to a missing fan being found in Barcelona 10 days after leaving for the 2026 World Cup in the USA.

Michael Hewitt, aka ‘Little Mick’, was unaware that the world was looking for him, knowing he had intended to travel on to America but never arrived in Boston.

The 65 year old left Leeds for Boston via Barcelona on Saturday the 20th of June, but family became concerned when they hadn’t had any contact him since a text message when he was on an accidental holiday Barcelona early Sunday morning (21 June).

Michael was reported as a missing person, his phone out of service and there was no updates of his on social media.

He was eventually tracked down in Spain, with it soon known that he had abandoned plans to fly out to the US when he ended up losing his phone, which had all his tickets, bookings, contacts, and travel information on it.

It was only when he was found by an off-duty British police officer who was also on holiday in Barcelona, and both been wearing a pub wearing Leeds United tops and did a ‘Leeds salute’ to one another, that the officer then realised upon returning to his hotel, opened up his phone and saw posts on social media that Mick was a missing man. So he went to the police. A huge relief for Michael, his family and friends.

On Monday (June 29th), his brother Gary Hewitt wrote: “Hi there, please could I ask for help in locating my brother, Michael Hewitt?

“Known to many as “Little Mick”, particularly within the Leeds United community, he will be a familiar face to lots of Whites fans across the globe, having followed the Club home and away for decades.

“On Saturday 20th June, Mick left Leeds, heading to Boston, USA for one of England’s World Cup group games, travelling via Barcelona. He doesn’t seem to have made it to Boston, and our last contact with him was from Barcelona in the early hours of Sunday morning, 21st June. Since then, his phone has been out of service and he hasn’t posted any updates on social media. As you can imagine, we are now very worried for his safety.

“Mick has been reported missing, and a case raised with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, reference number: 02470905. Interpol have been alerted, so we should soon know if he travelled onwards to the USA or remained in Barcelona. The UK police reference is 20260628/1183.

“If anyone has seen Mick since Sunday 21st June, or had any contact with him since then, please could you let ourselves or the FCDO know? Thank you.

“Please share Mick’s photo. We need to get him home 🙏🏻

“Marching on Together, The Hewitt Family”

At near 1am on the Wednesday the 1st of July, Gary said: “Firstly, on behalf of the Hewitt family, please could I thank each and every one of you who has replied to or shared our plea for help in locating Michael “Little Mick” Hewitt. The strength of the football community is absolutely mind-blowing!

“We have been overwhelmed by messages of support and offers of help. Thank you!

“So, a quick update.

“We still don’t know where Mick is, and still have had no contact with him since he went offline in the early hours of Sunday 21st June. The whole process for reporting and attempting to trace a missing person has proved so very frustrating, and nothing seems to happen quickly, despite the urgency of the situation. For example, we still don’t know for sure whether Mick travelled onwards from Barcelona to Boston, as planned.

“It seems highly unlikely, as there was not one reported sighting of Mick in or around the stadium on match day, but I find it hard to believe that confirmation via Border Security hasn’t been possible yet. As soon as we know for sure, we will post a further update.

“We have received a couple of very exciting possible sightings of Mick, and both have been reported to the authorities for further investigation. We are keeping everything crossed that one of these potential sightings provides the key to unlock this baffling situation and bring to an end the nightmare we are going through.

“Rest assured, we will keep you updated as soon as we have any news. Many thanks again for all your help, love and support. The Hewitt Family.”

At 10:22am on the 1st of July, he wrote: “Fantastic news!

“Little Mick is safe and well in Barcelona, and was blissfully unaware that the world was searching for him!

“As a family, we desperately wanted an embarrassingly simple but happy ending to this horrendous episode, and we now have that. I’ll explain shortly, once all the authorities are notified and a degree of normality returns.

“A million thanks to each and every person who has helped to bring Mick home safely, and for all the good wishes ❤️

“It’s amazing what can be achieved when the good people of the world go Marching on Together 💛🤍💙”

Speaking to The Athletic, Gary said when he got a phone call on the Wednesday from the British Consulate in Barcelona: “I really did think it would just be bad news. It was awful last night.

“My sister and I really did think the next call would be a request to identify him, which was sickening… And she says, ‘Hi, Gary, it’s Carolina (consulate employee), I have your brother on the phone. Would you like to speak with him?’.

“It was a feeling of a huge weight being lifted, just to hear his voice. When you’ve given up on hearing a voice again, and you hear it, the feeling is really hard to describe.

“It’s just such a wonderful thing. I wanted to hug him down the phone and strangle him at the same time. I said, ‘Mick, do you realise we’ve all been looking for you?’. ‘How do you mean? Who’s been looking for me?’.

“Half the world’. ‘Oh, you’re kidding me?’. ‘You’re all over the internet’. He doesn’t like a fuss and he doesn’t like publicity, so he’ll be mortified.

“I told him: ‘When you get home, make yourself a cuppa and read through the messages on Facebook.’ Not many people get those messages about how much you mean to somebody.

“Over the last few days it’s been horrendous but lovely seeing the heartfelt stuff. Mick’s in the rare position of finding out what people truly think about him while he’s still alive.”

Social media users gave their reaction after a Leeds ‘salute’ led to a missing fan being found in Barcelona 10 days after leaving for the World Cup…

@rogercart57: Thank f**k he’s safe & sound but looks like he’s been having the time of his life these last fee days while all before him were going into meltdown hmmm alls well that ends well MOT

@NILSBROWN: Well done Leeds United fans. This guy will never live it down😄, but the other outcome would have been very sad. Bravo!

@HenryAv63694996: So he went on a bender, missed his flight, lost his phone, and decided to stay in Spain on the bender. Got it ))

@Lee6378: Been on a bender blissfully unaware! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻🤣

@OscarMarrio: This is fantastic news 😃 Our fanbase really is next level in terms of getting together when things like this happen. MOT 💪

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