Devastated father tells of ‘horrible’ news after discovery of son’s body
THE grief-stricken family of a kindhearted father-of-two have paid an emotional tribute in his memory after his body was tragically discovered just over three months after he went missing.
The body of Daniel Jones was found on a bank of the Loughor Estuary after a missing persons appeal looking to establish his whereabouts since December, police confirmed.
The 26-year-old from Swansea, a former Pentrepoeth junior and Bishop Vaughan comprehensive school pupil, was last seen in Water Street, Pontarddulais, at around 11.30pm on Monday, December 18.
There had been a number of large organised searches for him during the time he was missing, including checking derelict houses, searching fields and looking down the river.
Mr Jones’ father, Kevin Jones, has now paid a heartfelt tribute to his son’s life and his achievements, while opening up about how he and his family are dealing with the tragedy.
Kevin Jones said: “We’re devastated. We’re trying our hardest to get on with things, we’ve got a lot to sort out, but to say we’re devastated is an understatement. Even though it’s been four months since Daniel went missing, whilst he was missing there was always a chance that he had just run off somewhere to clear his head.
“We wanted closure, but we didn’t want the answers that we’ve been given. It’s horrible, we’re getting by day by day at the moment.
“We found out about it on Wednesday. They haven’t really told us much. They said a body had been found and that the death was inconclusive, accidental they think, but they can’t even tell us how he died.
“I don’t think you can ever begin to process something like this. I think it’s just time. The two of us together, myself and my wife, we’re each other’s rocks at the moment, we’ve got to be. He’s too young. He’s far, far too young. It’s a very stressful time at the moment.
“Daniel was a nice boy. He was a daddy of two kids, he loved his kids and his nieces and nephews. He was a grafter, and would put his hand to anything and would help anybody. The amount of tributes we’ve had from people saying how much he would be missed, there’s been hundreds.
“He is really going to be missed by a lot of people. Lots of people have been writing about how much of a lovely person he was and how sorely missed he’s going to be. His girlfriend has been up to see us, and she’s really missing him as well.”
Mr Jones explained that his son had a great love of the outdoors, and was generous with his time, always being one of the first to help someone out with anything they needed a hand with.
He said: “Daniel was bright, he was very bright as a kid. He had a good mix of friends and knew a lot of people, and was a very liked person. He enjoyed his fishing, had learned to play guitar – I taught him how to play. He liked being down by the sea, that’s one place he loved, being by the sea.
“He was very much an outdoors person. He even had a little inflatable dinghy which he’d take down to the beach. One thing he hated was being alone, he couldn’t stand it, he had to be with other people.
“He was always with somebody, whether that be a gang of friends or with his girlfriend, Katie, or with us. He never stopped talking, he could talk a glass eyeball to sleep! He would chat and chat and chat and chat, he could talk!
“The last time he came here he was picking up bits and bobs because he was decorating his flat at Griffith John Street. When we went down there, you could see he had been painting and doing his flat up. Another hobby of his as well was he’d started printing things like mugs and T-shirts and things like that.
“He’d get designs of things and requests from people and print them. He had started a little business out of it. In my shed I’ve still got boxes of mugs. I don’t know where he got the idea from, but when we’d go to his flat you’d see people’s names printed on placemats and things like that.
“After he left school he did manual work and would be doing old houses up, and he would do some gardening, cutting grass and trees. He always wanted to keep on the go and do something all the time, that’s the sort of person he was.
“That’s why he’d always help someone out. He’d rather help someone out than sit around and do nothing. He had to keep himself busy. If anyone needed a favour, he’d be there like a shot.
“He’d go and help someone out and probably end up doing most of the work himself.
“He’ll be remembered for being his cheeky, chirpy, chatty, and loving self.”