Searchers find body of boy swept into Irish Sea

SEARCHERS yesterday found a body believed to be that of a teenager swept into the Irish Sea three weeks ago.

Jordan Murdock, 14, vanished into stormy waters when waves lashed a pier in County Down where he was playing on January 11.

Even though a major cross-Border air and sea rescue operation failed to locate the youngster, villagers in Killough refused to give up the hunt.

With hundreds of local volunteers combing the shoreline for any trace of the teenager since the accident happened, a search team found his body close to where he disappeared.

A Police Service of Northern Ireland spokeswoman said: “A body had been recovered on the shore near the pier at the entrance to Killough harbour. It was found by a local search team.”

The find will ease the anguish suffered by Jordan’s family ever since he disappeared. The Murdocks had moved to the Co Down coast from Belfast just months before the tragedy.

Jordan had been with 12-year-old friend David Hackett at the time he was swept into the sea.

The boy dived in after him in a desperate attempt to rescue him, but they were pulled apart by the waves.

Search co-ordinator Mick Mooney told how his team had ignored those who claimed the body would never be retrieved.

He said: “some people had the notion that he may have been swept out on the day. But certainly on the advice we were taking from local people and the fisherman’s rescue team who the community have great regard for and who never left this village, we were convinced ourselves he was in there and we were determined to carry on until we got the body. Thankfully, we did.

“It had been retrieved approximately 200 yards from where Jordan had been swept into the water,” he added.