Missing pieces

THE investigation into Breda Ryan’s death has become almost as difficult and troubled as her short life had been.

Found lying unconscious by the roadside at Curley Hole, a popular beauty spot just outside her home town of Drogheda, she was rushed to hospital on July 28.

Despite the best efforts of doctors at Dublin’s Beaumont Hospital, she never regained consciousness and died nine days later.

In a tragic twist of fate, her wake was from the pub where she would have celebrated her 21st birthday the following weekend.

Her baby daughter, Reanna, had just turned one-year-old.

Since Breda’s death, one question remains unanswered — was she murdered or did she die by misadventure?

Her mother says it was murder, gardaí are not so convinced and are pursuing “all lines of inquiry”.

Soon the garda investigation will be wound down, and the truth may never be known.

In Drogheda, the rumour mill has gone into overdrive. Theories abound and wild allegations have circulated throughout the town.

Everyone, it seems, has a theory about Breda Ryan’s tragic end:

She was murdered by someone she had arranged to meet in the dead of night.

She knew her killer well.

She was attacked by a random madman.

She had been abducted and thrown from a speeding car.

At first, it was thought she had been the victim of a late night hit-and-run accident, but the scene had none of the tell-tale signs — broken glass, tyre marks, car parts.

Senior garda sources involved with the investigation say they do not suspect foul play at this stage. However, they still insist that they are pursuing all lines of inquiry.

What is known for certain is that Breda Ryan was at a house party with friends in Drogheda in the hours before her death.

A lot of drink was consumed, and there remains a suspicion that drugs, such as ecstasy, may have been taken also.

Those at the party told detectives that Breda had sent “loads” of text messages that night, before leaving the party without telling anyone.

However, phone records don’t support the claim and statements taken from those at the party contradict each other. Everyone there had been drinking.

But it does seem relatively certain that Breda slipped away from the party without telling anyone where she was going.

Whether she had decided to have an early night or had arranged to meet someone is as yet unclear.

While senior garda sources say they don’t suspect foul play, on the evidence to date, a number of unanswered questions remain.

The spot where Breda was found, Curley Hole on the outskirts of Drogheda, was more than two miles from where her route home from the party would have taken her.

It is a dark, winding, country road and not an obvious choice for a late night short cut home, especially for a 20-year-old woman walking alone.

Gardaí admit they don’t know why she should have strayed so far from the beaten path.

However, contrary to earlier reports, she was not badly bruised or beaten around her head and body.

In fact, she had a single gash on her head and light scrapes on her arm. Assault has been ruled out.

Forensic tests did not find any trace of car seat material on her clothing, combined with the relative lack of injuries, it makes the ‘thrown from a speeding car’ theory look less likely.

Although, of all the theories which involved a killer, that is the most likely.

Later this month, a toxicology report carried out on Breda will be made available to the gardaí.

Its findings may help move the case forward.

However, it will only show if Breda was drinking or taking prescription drugs, which may have caused her to fall over.

Even if she had been taking drugs, it is unlikely any traces would have remained in her system when the test was carried out nine days after she was admitted to hospital.

Last month, State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy reported that Breda Ryan’s injuries were consistent with “falling from an upright position”, in other words, falling over. She found no evidence of a sexual or violent assault.

However, Helen Ryan insists that her daughter’s death is no accident.

“It is murder, that’s what I am convinced of — I don’t see how anyone can believe anything else,” she said from her home in Drogheda’s Cedarfield estate. “What would Breda have been doing out there alone at that time of night, it makes no sense to me.

“I am devastated, Breda didn’t deserve this, she was a lovely girl and a good daughter, I never thought I would have to bury my child, no one ever thinks that.

“Breda wouldn’t have walked that road, she had no reason to.”

Breda had a troubled upbringing. At the age of 10, she and her brother were fostered out of the family home and spent their teenage years with a family from Co Louth.

During her early teenage years, Breda, it seemed, had found a sanctuary from the maelstrom of her own family life.

At 19, Breda became pregnant and since giving birth to her daughter in the summer of 2005, she had spent an increasing amount of time with her natural family.

The family live in the Cedarfield estate, a working-class area in Drogheda.

In the weeks before her death, Breda had decided to move out of her local authority house in Laytown to be closer to her family.

Perhaps, surprisingly, gardaí haven’t yet established exactly where Breda was living — more than a month after she was found unconscious.

Described as “cheerful and full of life” by those who knew her, she often sought out company.

On occasions she would go into a bar and sip lemonade, she was there for the company.

As a single parent she didn’t work, choosing to stay at home and look after her daughter.

Last month, her brother Simon made an impassioned plea for anyone with information to come forward.

The fact that Breda was found more than two miles away from the route she would have taken home has fuelled speculation that a crime was committed.

Added to that is the ‘missing hour’ between 4.46am and the time when Breda’s body was discovered by a passer-by.

The last sighting of Breda alive was made at Louth FM offices, by a witness who knew her personally.

After that she disappeared from view.

Despite gardaí spending hours trawling through CCTV coverage, no further sightings have been made.

Detectives are adamant that the missing hour holds the key to unlocking the riddle of what happened.

Superintendent Gerry Smith, who heads the investigation, said it was the most baffling case he ever came across.

“It is the strangest case in my career,” he admits. “But we are confident that there are people out there who can help us solve it, we need them to get in touch.

“Certainly we want to know why Breda was out at that part of the road at that time of night, it does form part of our investigations.”

Already a number of people have been questioned about the death.

At present there are six gardaí working on the case but, so far, there have been no significant leads, just one blind alley after another.

While rumour and allegation are in plentiful supply, hard evidence has been less forthcoming.

Few people want to talk about it, either to the media or the gardaí.

The Ryan family is well known in Drogheda and it seems the small community prefers to draw a veil over events that night in July.

“We don’t want to talk about it, especially to the press,” said one man standing outside Benson’s Bar in the town. “The family need to be left alone to grieve in peace, its a terrible tragedy and not one that people are going to make worse.

“No one wants all of this attention, it is just a way of selling papers”.

In such a small community, the suspected murder of a young woman in a dark country lane would normally cause a degree of panic and fear among local residents.

However, in Drogheda, there is no sense that a killer is on the loose or that the town’s young women are in danger.

Instead, most people, when they do speak, seem to believe that the death of Breda Ryan is either the result of a bizarre accident or the work of someone who knew her well.

It is partly because of those theories, especially the later one, that locals have been so reluctant to become involved in the investigation.

While Supt Smith says he will get to the bottom of the case, resources are finite.

The six gardaí working on the case at the minute will eventually need to be freed up and take on other duties.

However, the gardaí insist the investigation will remain open until a conclusion is reached, one way or the other.

No flowers, or memorial, mark the spot where Breda was found on July 28.

For the week and a half that she hovered between life and death in Beaumont Hospital her family rallied around her.

Surgeons battled to save her.

Gardaí were hopeful that she would make a full recovery, and tell them what had happened.

Tragically that wasn’t to be.

Now, almost six weeks after her death, the family and gardaí are essentially going in two opposite directions.

‘Murder’ say the family, ‘not on the evidence so far’ say gardaí.

In the middle is a small town, full of rumour, gossip and innuendo.

But, sometime soon, a decision has to be made and Breda’s family — and the community — need to know if a killer ended the life of a young mother or if it was merely a strange happening.