Foul play was likely not a factor in University of Alabama student James Gracey’s shocking death in Barcelona, Spanish authorities said the day after recovering his body.
“Everything points to it being an accidental death,” Mossos d’Esquadra police, who cover the area where Gracey’s body was found Thursday, told The Post.
Maritime police discovered the 20-year-old Elmhurst, Illinois, native’s “lifeless body” in 13-foot-deep water off Port Olímpic, near where Gracey was last seen leaving Shôko nightclub around 3 a.m. Tuesday.
The heartbreaking identification came just hours after the remains were recovered at about 6 p.m. local time on Thursday.
“The relevant arrangements have been made with the victim’s relatives, who are in Barcelona,” the police department wrote in a statement Friday.
Gracey’s father had traveled to Spain to assist in the desperate search for his son, which kicked off after the college junior got separated from his friends inside the nightclub and later failed to return to their Airbnb about two miles away in Ronda de Sant Pere.
He was last seen alive by a person who reportedly saw him walking toward the rocky coastline, close to the beachfront club.
“From there, he may have fallen into the sea and drowned,” the witness said, according to the Daily Mail.
Authorities – who once suspected foul play was involved – found his wallet floating in the waters off Somorrostro beach, which starts a few hundred feet from the nightclub, on Wednesday.
On Thursday, a Port Olímpic worker waved down officers before the body was found, Fox News reported.
Divers jumped into the water with a stretcher before returning with a body bag, which appeared to be full.
A blue screen was erected to shield the body from public view.
An autopsy will be carried out on his body, Spanish outlet La Vanguardia reported, although the final results may take several weeks to be released.
Gracey’s family said they have been left heartbroken by his death — and tributes from his fraternity poured in.
