Family believes Irishman’s body found

Noel Baker, Krabi, Thailand

Dermot Keightley said that the family was now fearing the worst.

“We’re awaiting confirmation,” he said from his home in Cookstown, Co Tyrone. “I was talking to my brother-in-law and he said ‘just don’t get your hopes up’. I think they found the body and we are awaiting confirmation.”

Aidan Coyle, whose brother Damien is in Thailand with Conor’s sisters Darina Duffin, Michelle McCaughley and cousin Gavin O’Neill, also said the family believed the body of the missing 30-year-old might soon be positively identified in the morgue in the town of Krabi.

Earlier, Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy said that garda representatives in Thailand were close to identifying a second Irish victim of the December 26 tsunami that struck several Asian countries.

He made his comments as he handed over a cheque for E1 million raised through a charity fundraising drive to the Irish Red Cross.

A garda spokesman refused to speculate as to the identity of the Irish citizen, but it is understood to be the Fine Art and Photography graduate from Co Tyrone.

The Irish Ambassador working in Thailand, Dan Mulhall, said he would not make any comment until he received official confirmation. Garda Detective Superintendent John O’Driscoll, who is working in Thailand with his colleague Detective Sergeant Joseph Kinsella, said they were currently working in Krabi but that they were awaiting official confirmation of a positive identification of a second Irish person.

Gardaí also confirmed they have received an official request for at least one more forensic expert to be sent to Thailand, although any additional personnel might not be limited to working on cases involving missing Irish people.