Emotional Susanna Reid leaves GMB studio to comfort missing Levi Davis’s mother

Missing rugby star Levi Davis’s mother broke down in tears today as she recalled the last time she hugged her son before he vanished from Barcelona last October – leading Good Morning Britain (GMB) presenter Susanna Reid to abandon the studio to comfort her backstage. 

Julie Davis told GMB how never hearing from Levi again was her ‘worst nightmare’, adding that at their last meeting, her ‘mother’s instinct’ told her to embrace the 24-year-old ‘because you just don’t know if this is going to be your last’.

Presenter Susanna then reached across the desk to hold Ms Davis’s hand as she became visibly emotional while discussing the ‘frustrations’ of trying to receive updates from Spanish police and the British consulate. 

It comes as private detectives looking into the case are probing a ‘£100,000 debt’ Levi may have had with a Somali gang, while Ms Davis has urged police to search Barcelona’s port following reports of a person in the water in the morning after Levi disappeared.  

Appearing on GMB this morning, Ms Davis also revealed that potentially vital CCTV footage had been deleted by the time the courts in Spain had granted investigators permission to access it, while the ‘language barrier’ caused delays in receiving information about the case. 

While holding her hand, an emotional Susanna told Ms Davis that it was at least ‘encouraging’ that ‘so much effort’ was still being put into finding Levi, including posters, podcasts and investigators, adding: ‘Our hearts are with you, honestly.’ 

When the programme returned from a break, co-presenter Ed Balls was seen sitting alone at the desk, before revealing that Susanna had ‘stepped out’ of the studio to comfort Ms Davis.

Former Bath rugby player Levi went missing on October 29 after leaving a friend in Ibiza to catch a ferry to Barcelona alone. The Celebrity X Factor contestant has not been seen since leaving the Old Irish Pub on the city’s bustling La Rambla. 

Security cameras caught him leaving the bar, where he had enjoyed a pint while watching football, at 10.05pm. He walked the short distance north to the Hard Rock Cafe where the trail has gone cold.

Police say Levi has still not used his phone or either of his two bank accounts in the nearly three months he has been missing.

There have been no credible sightings of him and his passport was found by police in November, meaning he is unable to travel, rent accommodation or even book into a hotel.

It comes as it was revealed today that private detectives hired by his family are looking into a £100,000 debt Levi is believed to have had with a Somali gang. 

An unnamed source from the investigative team, led by Gavin Burrows, told Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia: ‘Davis found himself in a very tricky situation. He was sure they were chasing him. 

‘In fact he was convinced that they had tried to poison him on one occasion.’ 

Levi had only been in Barcelona for three hours on the day he vanished, having arrived at the ferry port at 7pm following an eight-hour crossing from Ibiza, where he had been on holiday with friends.

The last time his phone signal was picked up was close to the city’s Sants mainline train station overnight on October 29, which is just over two miles from the Old Irish Pub, which Mr Davis visited for just 35 minutes. 

His mother is now urging police in Barcelona to search the sea off the city’s port after a man was seen in the water just hours after her son’s disappearance.

The crew of an Italian cruise ship noticed someone in the sea at 6.30am on the morning after Levi was last seen and hurled a life buoy in to help them.

No person was located, an increasingly fraught Ms Davis said today.

Barcelona’s port is close to where Levi was seen leaving the Irish pub on La Rambla. 

Ms Davis told MailOnline her son’s passport was discovered in the port three weeks after he had been reported missing.

She now wants police to send in diving teams to trawl the seafloor off the coast of the Catalan capital to check if her son’s body is there.

Ms Davis said: ‘The cruise ship, Bellissima, reported a person in the water as it was entering the port of Barcelona at 6.30am on October 30.

‘The liner filed a report to the Civil Guard to say that a passenger or member of the crew had fallen aboard, however a subsequent check of the on-board cameras and sensors did not detect anyone falling into the water.

‘Several boats and a helicopter were dispatched to look for the person but nobody was found and eventually the search was called off. The life buoy which had been thrown into the sea for the person to cling on to later washed up.

‘Levi had been drinking in a bar on La Rambla, Barcelona’s main strip which is close to the port, the previous evening. His passport was found in the port a few weeks later.

‘Although there was no description of the person in the water, we would urge the police to send in divers to make sure there is no body lying undiscovered under the water.

‘At that time of year, it would still be fairly dark at 6.30am in the morning and it’s a busy shipping route where people just do not go to swim.’

Levi’s family do not believe he travelled to Barcelona intending to harm himself and fear he may have been thrown into the sea by someone else.

MailOnline revealed how a private investigator helping police with the search had been contacted two weeks ago by an anonymous source who claimed London gangsters may be responsible for his disappearance.

Ms Davis added: ‘Levi sent me a video message from the bar he was last seen in and he was in good spirits.

‘If that was him in the water, I don’t believe he ended up there by his own choice. I believe someone else may be responsible.

‘He’d had a run-in with some bad people in London two years ago when he played for Ealing Trailfinders and it’s been suggested that gang members from London may be behind him going missing.

‘As a mother I just want my son back. It’s the not knowing what’s happened to him which is the hardest thing to take.’

Good Morning Britain also reported today that private investigator Mr Burrows had told the programme he feared Levi may have drowned in Barcelona’s port.

GMB reporter Nick Dixon mentioned the port area incident, noting that it happened shortly after Levi was last seen. 

Mr Dixon added: ‘A man was in the water in distress in the port area close to a nearby cruise ship.

‘A search was carried out but no body was found and everyone was accounted for, at least on the cruise ship.

‘But it was some time later that the police realised Levi’s passport was found in that same area.’

Levi’s Ibiza-based friend Richard Squire formally reported him missing a few days after the port incident, after his family informed West Midlands Police he had vanished.

Barcelona police confirmed on November 22 that Levi’s passport had been found in the city port after his mother revealed it had turned up.

Speaking of his fears the missing Brit could have been entrapped by someone on social media, and appearing to explain a mystery Bizum payment Levi was said to have made the day he vanished, the unnamed investigator told La Vanguardia: ‘We know a friend sent him £30 on Bizum so he could play for a place to sleep in.

‘And we also know he intended meeting a person he had met on social media, a person he had never actually seen, a person who could give us very valuable information about what occurred. Unfortunately we only have a nickname to go on.

‘Perhaps it was nothing more than bait offered by the mafia who were looking for him. We can’t rule out any hypothesis.’ 

It comes as new photos of Levi have emerged which were taken just a week before his disappearance. They are believed to be the last photographs taken of him before he vanished.

The images were captured by his photographer friend Adetodkunbo Adetona, to go with Levi’s second music single – Los Angeles – which was due to be released in November.

Mr Adetona, from Hammersmith, London, today said: ‘They were taken in Ibiza on the 20th, about a week before he disappeared. He invited me to take the photos for his next single.

‘I met him when he released his first single because I took the press pictures for it. We became friends, and he asked me to come and do this shoot.

‘So I hopped on a flight – I was only there for about five days.’

Levi’s mother, Julie, previously said he was thinking about leaving rugby after suffering a ligament injury and had been dealing with mental health issues two weeks before he went missing.

But Mr Adetona said: ‘While I was there, he was fine. He was more than fine. He was positive, his second single was coming out, and he was looking forward to the future.

‘He had underlying issues – I mean, coming out of a pandemic, who doesn’t? But he was training – he was recovering from a knee injury – he was getting quite ripped.

‘He was learning Spanish, he was learning how to DJ, I think he’d stopped drinking. He seemed great.

‘He didn’t mention his trip to Barcelona – I don’t think it was planned. I just got a FaceTime from him when he was on a ferry, and I thought he was going to a nearby island. It’s normal to be on a ferry in Ibiza.

‘I thought it was odd he was by himself, but he’s a boy, he’s 24, and he wasn’t doing anything I wouldn’t do. It was nothing out of the ordinary. During the shoot, we were just talking about fun stuff, stuff you say to get them to shine. Then we got lunch.

‘He was positive about the future. I only knew him for a short while, but we were quite close. Knowing these might be the last photos taken of him before he went missing is terrible. It’s traumatic.

‘I lost another friend to a heart attack over Christmas – at least I got to say goodbye to them. With Levi…it’s just awful.’