Gardaí exhume body of unidentified man found in River Lee 25 years ago
Gardaí, a forensic anthropologist and an environmental health officer from the Health Service Executive attended the exhumation of the man shortly after sunrise on Tuesday morning at St Patrick’s cemetery in Bandon. File picture: Dan Linehan
The remains of an unidentified man have been exhumed in West Cork this morning in a bid to identify him 25 years after he was found in the River Lee.
Gardaí, a forensic anthropologist and an environmental health officer from the Health Service Executive attended the exhumation of the man shortly after sunrise on Tuesday morning at St Patrick’s cemetery in Bandon.
His remains were removed to Cork city mortuary where efforts to harvest DNA samples were to be made. Sources confirmed to the that it is expected that it will be possible to conduct DNA sampling on the remains, with hopes that an identification could take place within days if a match can be made.
However, it is also possible that there may not be a match made but any samples will be stored for future efforts to identify him. The man’s remains were found in the River Lee at the Lee Fields in July 1999 and were taken from the water by fire officers.
A gravestone marking the grave of the unknown man reads: “Pray for the soul of a man whose name is known to God alone, interred here on the 25th of October 1999.”
He was found wearing a Philip Mercier silver watch with a gold face. Wooden rosary beads and three religious medals were also found on his person, as well as a Good Luck medal in the shape of a horseshoe, on which was etched the name MacGinty.
However, efforts to identify the man failed. Fingerprints could not be obtained because of the decomposition of the body.
A source said on Tuesday morning: “Given the advances in DNA, if he is on a system somewhere, we should be able to identify him.” Earlier this year, gardaí made a formal request to the coroner for South Cork, Frank O’Connell, for an exhumation of the body for the purpose of DNA profiling.
Under coronial legislation, exhumations are allowed if a licence is obtained or if an order is made by the Minister for Justice. Mr O’Connell made an application to the Minister for Justice Helen McEntee for the order in recent months and confirmed that a licence has been granted.
An exhumation must be carried out under strict conditions, with an environmental health officer present to ensure public health is protected. The officer also attends the reburial of the remains.
Typically, the area of a graveyard where the exhumation is to take place is sealed off for privacy.
The unidentified man is included in a database of unidentified human remains across the country.
The database was published last year in Excel format but a revamped database was unveiled earlier this year by the Department of Justice, incorporating images which officials hope will help solve the mysteries of the identities of more than 40 remains found across the country in the past six decades.
Information for the database has been provided by coroners in their annual returns to the Department of Justice.
According to the department, as DNA profiles are generated and uploaded onto the database, they will be regularly checked against all profiles of unidentified remains in the hope of locating a DNA match and establishing an identification.
