Identity of man in bog confirmed

Gardaí have solved an eight-year mystery concerning the identity of a body found near Lough Inagh in Connemara by tracing the origins of the deceased’s sunglasses case.

The man, now identified as German Arno Schmitz, was found on December 8, 2006 in woods. A postmortem found no evidence of trauma or injury.

Mr Schmitz was found with a small bag containing a grapefruit juice carton and a glasses case with a pair of Rayban sunglasses and a cleaning cloth.

Printed on the cloth was the name ‘Mückenheim- Optik’ with an address at Neumunster, Germany. Inquiries did not reveal any information as the sunglasses were non-prescription. German authorities confirmed no missing person with a similar DNA profile existed on their missing persons database.

Local enquiries proved fruitless. The case featured on Crimecall in 2009 and in June 2013. In 2009 the image of a facial reconstruction of the deceased was released to the media.

In April 2014 the Gardaí requested through Interpol that a press release and a picture of a facial reconstruction be circulated to the media in Germany. In July two people contacted German police. One was Bernd Schmitz, who said the facial reconstruction looked like his brother Arno who had emigrated to Ireland in 2005. This week German authorities told Bernd Schmitz the body was his brother’s.

“Thanks to the determination of the local Garda investigators and the co-operation of agencies and individual experts we have helped ensure that Mr Schmitz’s family have some closure on this tragic matter,” said Chief Superintendent Thomas Curley.