Family pleads for exhumation of unidentified body

THE Justice Department yesterday refused to be drawn on a request to exhume an unidentified grave in Wexford believed to be the burial place of missing woman Priscilla Clarke.

Yesterday, the department said it would not comment on individual cases despite a public appeal by the family of Ms Clarke for the necessary exhumation order.

The unidentified woman’s body was buried in Crosstown Cemetery in Co Wexford six months after her skeletal remains washed up on Balinamona Beach on December 12, 1995.

A postmortem was carried out by the then state pathologist Dr John Harbison but no identification was made.

Ms Clarke’s sister Clare Keane said the description from the postmortem is similar to that of her sister.

She wants the Justice Minister Brian Lenihan to order the exhumation and bring closure to the case.

“After a lot of agonising my family has decided we would like the remains exhumed.

“I would like the minister to concede to the request. This woman deserves more dignity in terms of an investigation to find out who she was,” she told RTÉ’s Liveline show.

Ms Clarke, 25, went missing in 1988 after a drowning incident in the River Dargle at Powerscourt, Co Wicklow.

She had been horseriding with Lynda Kavanagh, the wife of high-profile property developer Mark Kavanagh, when gardaí believe swollen waters swept them away.

While Ms Kavanagh’s body was found after extensive searches, Ms Clarke is still missing.

In 1995 the unidentified body was found but Ms Clarke’s family was not contacted.

After finding out about the grave in Wexford in recent times through a friend, Ms Keane said the limited postmortem records suggest the body could be her sister.

“My understanding is there were jeans still on the remains, these were Lee jeans which had a size tag on them — 31/33.

“The person’s height was 5ft 7in, the shoes were still on them and there were keys for a Volkswagen in the pocket as well,” she said.

Ms Keane said her sister liked Lee jeans and was of a similar height, however the family will never know unless the minister approves the family’s request.

Ms Keane said while the body may not be her sister’s a proper DNA profile could end the torment for another family of a missing person.

“There is no information available on the DNA samples, there should have been a profile kept.

“If it is my sister it will bring closure to my family and if it is another woman it will bring closure to that family.

“It is just untenable that you would have remains buried without all of that information on file, DNA profiles there so that they could be compared,” said Ms Keane.