Waterford man's remains kept in morgue for 27 days before being released to family
The body of Jamie Weldon, originally from Butlerstown in Waterford, was in Dublin City Morgue for 27 days, after it was found in his apartment on Upper Kevin Street in Dublin on August 19.
A Waterford family whose brother’s remains lay in Dublin City Morgue for 27 days before being released to them say want answers on why it took so long for his body to be released.
The body of Jamie Weldon, originally from Butlerstown in Waterford, was found in his Iveagh Trust apartment on Upper Kevin Street in Dublin on August 19 — on what would have been his 57th birthday. His six siblings only discovered, after making a welfare check request on August 25, that remains believed to be that of their brother were in the Dublin City Morgue. However, because he had been dead for some time before his body was discovered on August 19, the family was told that the body was unviewable and a DNA match was necessary to prove his identity.
His sister Fiona says their brother Michael gave a DNA sample at Kevin Street garda station on August 29, but they were told its time slot for matching was not until September 4 — six days later.
The family was eventually notified on September 15 that the body could be released to them for a funeral. Jamie Weldon was laid to rest on September 18 in his native Waterford.
Jamie’s last interaction with anyone was online on July 28, and it is believed he died by suicide in early August.
Fiona says their other brother, 46-year-old Patrick, drowned in the River Liffey while visiting Ireland from his home in Australia.
She added: “He had his passport on him so they were able to find us within three hours from when they found him. But Jamie was actually in the apartment that was in his name, with his PPS number, and we weren’t contacted at all, and he was actually in the morgue six days before we even found out he was there.”
She also says a note had been left by Jamie, in his own writing, and signed by him.
She points out that within a short time after the family had sought a welfare check on August 25, gardaí were able to quickly establish that Jamie's details matched that of a body in Dublin City Morgue.
She explained: “It was 11.38pm when we contacted about a welfare check because we had a family meeting. It was about 12.05am on the 26th when the gardaí came to tell us. They were able to tell us that so quickly, and he had been in the morgue for nearly a week.”
However, the family had to wait until August 28 to contact the morgue because it was closed for the weekend. Then, they discovered that a DNA match would be required before Jamie’s body would be released to the family.
Fiona says: “Why did the DNA have to stay until September 4 to be processed? Is there nothing that can be sped up there — six days of a wait seems ridiculous. There must be a quicker way.”
The family has been told that an inquest will take place but is not likely to be held until at least 18 months' time.
Fiona says: “We want to make sure it doesn’t happen to anyone else.”
In response, a garda spokesman confirmed that gardaí were “alerted to the discovery of a body at a residence on Kevin Street, Dublin 8 shortly before 5pm on Saturday 19th August 2023”.
He said that the body was taken to the City Morgue at Whitehall for a post mortem examination which has since taken place.
He added that gardaí are now preparing a file for the Coroner.
Gardaí say officers at Kevin Street station carried out extensive inquiries to identify a next-of-kin subsequent to the discovery of the body, including “checking against missing person records, which eventually resulted in the potential identification of the deceased”.
The spokesman said that identification subsequently needed to be confirmed by DNA analysis.
He added: “In general terms, each case is different and the circumstances of the discovery of the body may not always make it possible for an immediate and direct identification of the deceased, particularly in cases where the remains have not been discovered for a period of time and where limited personal information is available at the scene.”
A spokeswoman for the Department of Justice said: "The Department extends its deepest condolences to Mr Weldon’s family on their bereavement but cannot comment on individual cases."
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