Gardaí to identify bodies washed up in Europe

By Sean McCarthaigh

A garda operation to establish the identities of bodies found off the west coast of Britain is to be expanded to include France, Spain, and Portugal.

At the weekend, Operation Runabay confirmed a DNA match with the body of an Irishman who disappeared 33 years ago.

Seven missing person cases have now been solved as part of Operation Runabay, after DNA analysis verified that a body washed up on the Welsh coast in November 5, 1985, was Brendan Dowley, who had disappeared three weeks earlier.

The unidentified remains of the 63-year-old father-of-four had lain buried in a cemetery on Anglesey for over three decades.

Mr Dowley was last seen boarding a bus in Kilkenny on October 17, 1985, on his way to get the Dún Laoghaire-Holyhead ferry to return to London, where he was living.

As a result of Operation Runabay, police in North Wales agreed to the exhumation of the body, in June, to allow for a comparison of DNA samples from Mr Dowley’s family.

The results showed that there was a “one in a billion” possibility that the remains were not Mr Dowley.

The news was confirmed to Mr Dowley’s family, including his 97-year-old wife, at the weekend.

Last December, gardaí were also able to close the file on another missing person, Pauline Finlay, who disappeared while walking her dogs on the beach at Kilmuckridge, Co Wexford, in 1994, after DNA tests on an exhumed body from a cemetery in Wales confirmed it was her.

Gardaí said it was envisaged that Operation Runabay would be extended to examine missing person’s cases from all coastal regions of Ireland.

As a consequence, it is expected that it will be expanded to include enquiries with the relevant authorities in Spain, Portugal, and France.

Gardaí said vital assistance had been provided to the operation by Dr Eleanor O’Rourke, the oceanographic services manager at the Marine Institute of Ireland, in relation to information on tidal currents in the seas around Ireland.

“It will, hopefully, assist in identifying probable locations, where remains may be found,” a garda spokesperson said.

According to gardaí, a number of other potential investigative opportunities have been identified.

Operation Runabay was launched by the Garda’s Missing Persons Bureau in January, 2017, to identify the remains of persons found along the west coast of Britain, but who might have been reported missing in Ireland.

The operation involves ongoing liaison between gardaí, the UK’s National Crime Agency, the North Wales Police, and Forensic Science Ireland.

Gardaí said DNA samples had been provided by families of individuals reported missing so that comparative analysis could be carried out.

A total of 81 different DNA samples were collected last year which resulted in four matches.

Personnel from the Missing Persons Bureau are available to take DNA samples from relatives of missing people who wish to provide them. Alternatively, samples can be provided to local gardaí.

“The operation has and will hopefully continue to successfully provide closure to some of the families of long-term missing persons,” the Garda spokesperson said.