RELATIVES of an Irish man who went missing in New York over the weekend have paid tribute to those who aided in the search for him.
23-year-old Ryan Cody was found safe and well in a local hospital after he disappeared during a night out in the Queens area of the city.
On Monday, two days after Ryan vanished, his family issued an urgent appeal on social media for any information on his whereabouts, after which swathes of Irish folk promptly joined the search party.
Ryan's brother Anthony, who spearheaded the online hunt, revealed on Facebook that Ryan had lost his glasses and was seen looking "disoriented and confused" prior to his disappearance.
Thankfully, NYPD eventually tracked Ryan down, finding him on Tuesday in a nearby hospital, much to the relief of his family.
Anthony revealed that Ryan had fallen and "banged his head" on the night out, getting concussed in the process.
Ryan's family had set up a GoFundMe page to try and raise money to fly out to New York to find him, but after he turned up safe and well, the family decided to refund all donations.
"Thankfully, we don't need the money anymore and will be able to get Ryan home to us," Anthony wrote.
"We thank each and every one of ye for donating so generously. As a family, we believe [refunding the money] is the correct thing to do.
"We as a family asked for help and ye as a community answered immediately. We surpassed any expectations of how much we could raise.
"The love and support of everybody was unbelievable. I'd love to get into names, but when I tell ye hundreds reached out, I'm sure we replied to every single person who mailed me.
"The Irish people are the greatest people in the world. We are so proud of how well we are represented abroad.
"Everybody involved, give yerselves a massive pat on the backs. We cannot thank ye enough."
See More: GoFundMe, Irish Man, Missing, New York
