Plea over missing woman’s belongings

GARDAÍ searching for a widow who disappeared in suspicious circumstances have asked people to contact them if they find any discarded car keys or mobile phones.

Anne Corcoran’s keys for her green Peugeot 206 and her mobile phone still haven’t been located and finding them may well prove vital to the Garda investigation.

It’s emerged that the 60-year-old farm owner used her mobile, and not her landline, to make a call to a friend on the morning of Monday, January 19, last.

The evening before, while in Garretstown, near Kinsale, Ms Corcoran had spoken to another friend. The encounter happened after dark.

She hasn’t been seen or heard from since January 19.

Inspector Brendan Fogarty said Ms Corcoran’s car keys and mobile phone may not even be anywhere near her home in Kilbrittain. He appealed to anybody who found such items, especially discarded in an unusual place, to contact gardaí.

Gardaí believe a shoe found a few hundred yards from the widow’s home does belong to her, although they are not sure how it got there and point out it may not in itself be an indication of foul play.

While gardaí are remaining tight-lipped about any possible motives, they are extremely concerned for the widow’s welfare.

“We are treating her disappearance as very, very suspicious and we have done so from day one. We are not happy with this and we wouldn’t be putting in the resources we are if we didn’t think it was as serious as it is,” Insp Fogarty said.

The number of volunteers who took part in searches in the Kilbrittain and Bandon areas increased yesterday to more than 200.

They were aided by 50 gardaí and a Garda dog unit from Limerick.

Insp Fogarty said gardaí could do with more volunteers and urged people who had spare time to come to Kilbrittain community hall at 8.30am or 1pm today.

Mystery surrounds why her car was parked for four days outside Bandon Bridge national school and then moved to Old Chapel, more than 1km away.

It remained there, adjacent to a small river, until it was discovered at noon on Wednesday, January 28.

Detectives believe the car may have been moved to Old Chapel by somebody other than Ms Corcoran.

Gardaí found the car after a painter called to Ms Corcoran’s house, by appointment, and discovered her two dogs locked in the house and in a very distressed state.

Apart from the search, gardaí are conducting a number of other investigations in the hope of solving the widow’s disappearance.

They are still appealing for anybody with any information, no matter how trivial they think it is, to contact them. Anybody with information is asked to contact Bandon Garda Station at 023-52200.