Skeletal remains found in car recovered from Cork Harbour

Gardaí have officially confirmed that the car which was found submerged in the river Owenabue, close to Hugh Coveney Pier in Crosshaven on Wednesday, is Mr Coughlan’s car.

Members of the Garda Water Unit at Hugh Coveney Pier, Crosshaven Co Cork for the recovery of a vehicle found in the water. Picture: Larry Cummins

Gardaí hope to solve a near 20-year-old missing person case following the discovery of skeletal remains in a car which was recovered from a river in Cork.

But the family of Barry Coughlan, 23, who was last seen in Crosshaven, Co Cork, on May 1, 2004, must wait for the results of DNA tests on the bones before the remains can be formally identified.

Gardaí have however officially confirmed that the car which was found submerged in the river Owenabue, close to Hugh Coveney Pier in Crosshaven on Wednesday, is Mr Coughlan’s car.

Mr Coughlan was last seen outside the former Moonduster Bar in Crosshaven between 1.30am and 2am on Saturday May 1 2004.

His rust-coloured Toyota Corolla hatchback, registration 98-C-18625, was parked nearby. Despite a major garda investigation and exhaustive searches at the time, neither Mr Coughlan nor his car were ever found.

But gardaí confirmed that the car found by members of a missing person’s group on Wednesday, and recovered from the river on Thursday night, is a red Toyota with the same registration.

When the car was recovered from the water with the assistance of a crane late on Thursday night, there were no obvious or immediate signs of human remains inside.

It is understood that because of its inverted position on the river bed, it had filled with mud and silt over the years.

The car was wrapped in special material and taken to a secure compound where garda forensic experts spent yesterday sifting through the material, and conducting a fingertip search of its interior.

They confirmed just after 4pm that during that technical examination, they had discovered skeletal remains.

The remains have been transferred to the Cork City Morgue for further detailed examination.

Barry Coughlan, aged 23, who was last seen in Crosshaven on May 1, 2004.

It is hoped that the results of that examination, combined with DNA analysis by Forensic Science Ireland, will assist in confirming the identity of the remains. They will also determine the course of the garda investigation.

Members of Cork City Missing Persons Search and Recovery (CCMPSR) unit discovered the submerged car as they tested their new €10,000 side-scanning sonar device.

The scanner detected “an item of interest” in about 30-ft of water near the pier and following an inspection by CCMPSR divers, gardaí were alerted and an investigation was launched.

Gardaí contacted Mr Coughlan’s family to tell them to expect garda activity in the area, and garda divers conducted an initial inspection of the car on the riverbed on Thursday afternoon, before making it ready for recovery.

As people awaited the arrival on Wednesday night of the Garda Water Unit, CCMPSR members remained on the pier overnight in solidarity with Mr Coughlan’s family.

“It was the least we felt we could do for this family,” CCMPSR spokesman, Christy O’Donovan, said.