DNA proof solves mystery of missing man after 30 years

A 30-year-old mystery was solved at a Coroner’s inquest in Letterkenny in Co Donegal yesterday when DNA established that the body of a man washed ashore in 1983 is a direct relative of local man James McGlynn, whose brother went missing at that time.

Coroner John Cannon read the conclusion of a report on the DNA taken from James McGlynn and from the deceased man which concluded “my opinion is that these findings strongly support that James McGlynn had a relationship to the deceased, either a brother, father or son — it was that close a link”.

In 2010, Mr Cannon instructed samples be taken from the unidentified body which was buried in an unmarked grave in Dunfanaghy and compared with saliva samples given by James McGlynn.