Clarissa's mum turns her focus to exhumation following surge of Gofundme support

Rebecca Saunders wants to exhume and reinter her three-year-old, who was buried in the arms of her killer

Rebecca Saunders told the Irish Examiner how her husband Martin had drowned their little girl, Clarissa, and then himself.

A bereaved mother feels closer than ever to her goal of having her daughter’s body exhumed from a coffin with the man who killed her in West Cork, thanks to an outpouring of public support after she shared her story for the first time with the Irish Examiner.

Rebecca Saunders, who wants to bring her daughter Clarissa’s remains back to the US where she now lives, launched a crowdfunding campaign to help pay for the exhumation process and any associated legal costs which quickly surpassed its target of $50,000 (€42,000).

Three-year-old buried with her killer 

Her beloved three-year-old daughter, Clarissa, was killed when her father, Rebecca’s then husband, walked into the water at Audley Cove, West Cork, drowning the little girl and then himself on March 5, 2013.

Almost since the coffin closed just three days after the tragedy, Rebecca has regretted allowing Clarissa to be buried in her father’s arms.

Clarissa McCarthy is buried in Schull, West Cork, with her father who took her life and then his own. Her mum wishes to have the child's remains exhumed and reburied in the US where Rebecca now lives. 

However, a swell of public support has helped Rebecca get closer to her goal of exhuming her daughter and bringing her remains back to the US. 

Some 1,700 people donated to Clarissa’s Cause on Gofundme. Donations ranged from $5 to $1,250. Apart from anonymous donors, the online donations came overwhelmingly from people going by Irish names.  In less than one week it raised more than $53,770 (€44,555).

Unspent funds will go to local charities

Any funds not needed to exhume Clarissa, or fight through the courts to do so, will be donated to Edel House, a shelter in Cork for survivors of domestic abuse, and Cork University Maternity Hospital Neonatal Unit.

"Still completely in awe of what’s taken place over the last few days," Rebecca wrote on her crowdfunding page.

"I simply cannot express how very touched I am at the goodwill and solidarity coming to lift up Clarissa and I.  

It’s been a whirlwind of a day and I just really can’t believe the solidarity that I’ve witnessed. I truly appreciate the help everyone’s given me. 

"I know that we’re going to bring Clarissa back to America and I just really want to say thank you to everyone who helped me to get to that goal. 

“And now it’s on to the harder work of getting her home, of applying for the exhumation permit. 

But I know that we can do this. I have faith that we’re going to get her home.

How and why exhumations happen

Exhumations have been in the news this week.  The remains of a Limerick man, Denis Walsh, who was missing for 25 years, are due to be exhumed from a communal grave in Galway and reinterred in his native Limerick this weekend. And last year, a woman whose remains were buried in the wrong plot in Kerry was exhumed.

Although not common, exhumations can be permitted. A court can order an exhumation as part of a criminal investigation.

Individuals can request that a loved one be exhumed and reinterred elsewhere under the Local Government Sanitary Services Act 1948 which was amended by the Local Government Act 1994.

Local authorities can grant permission

An application must be made to the local authority where the graveyard is located. If accepted, the local authority will grant an exhumation licence. If the local council refuses an exhumation licence there is no appeals process other than through the courts.

Two exhumation licences were granted in County Cork in the three-year period from 2018 to 2020, Cork County Council confirmed. The council said that public health matters are of key concern when considering whether to grant an exhumation licence. 

Cork County Council charges no fee to apply for an exhumation licence although it did not say how much an exhumation would cost. 

Rules for reinterment or cremation

Costs for the exhumation are set by the individual local authorities and are believed to range from about €450 to €1,000.  

Exhumed remains can be taken abroad, but all bodies must be reburied or cremated within 48 hours of the exhumation. An environmental health officer must attend the exhumation to ensure privacy and protect public health. 

An exhumation licence can be refused on a number of grounds, including the following: 

• If the consent of the next of kin has not been given; 
• If the person died very recently; 
• If the remains lie unidentified in a common plot; 
• If due respect to the person who died cannot be guaranteed; 
• If the remains to be exhumed are located below a body that is not to be exhumed.