In Search of the Missing Read online

  By 24 November two of the men who had entered the Slaney at the Séamus Rafter Bridge in Enniscorthy and another who had entered the river at Wexford were still missing. One of the men was a thirty-four-year-old and the father of four children. An all-round sportsman, he had played Gaelic football and soccer, and had won a Leinster minor hurling medal in 1985. Another man, aged forty-one, was also still missing. He had worked as a barman for nineteen years in Enniscorthy. He left behind a wife and their two young children.

  The search for the three remaining men was hampered by poor visibility and flooding, with the Slaney flowing rapidly at a speed of twelve miles per hour and threatening to burst its banks. Yet despite these dangerous conditions, huge numbers of volunteers continued to brave the flood-swollen waters in boats and canoes, with all search-and-rescue teams refusing to scale down their operations. Searchers included the Slaney Sea and Rescue Team, New Ross Search and Rescue, Mallow divers, the FCA, Civil Defence, mountain-rescue volunteers, and canoe and rowing clubs. On one day alone, more than seventy small vessels trawled up and down a fifteen-mile area, searching for the men’s remains, determined to return them to their families, many of whom lined the riverbank, united in grief, staring hopelessly into the water, watching, waiting. Among them were the elderly parents of one of the missing men.

  The people from Enniscorthy and the surrounding areas

  pooled together all their resources to help in the rescue operation. Many local employers gave their workers per-mission to stay away from work until the three remaining bodies had been recovered. Endless supplies of food poured in for the makeshift kitchen set up along the river bank to cater for the searchers. On average, 140 people were served snacks there daily. A fuel depot provided petrol free of charge. Local social and sporting events were cancelled. When the decision was taken to continue the search throughout Christmas Day if necessary, a local hotel offered to cook Christmas dinner for all the volunteers. The South Eastern Health Board set up a suicide help-line and provided a drop-in counselling centre in Enniscorthy. Seán McCarthy, a suicide resource officer with the health board, issued a warning to families to be on the lookout for copycat acts. The Samaritans sent in additional volunteers to the town. At the time, Harry O’Connor, chairman of the Slaney Sea and Rescue Team, lamented the scale of the tragedy: ‘We’ve never had to deal with a tragedy like this. But then I don’t think anybody in this country has.’ Suicide statistics released that year showed that suicide rated as the second most common cause of death among young Irish males.

  The shout came. Áine set out for Midleton at six o’clock in the morning to meet up with Noel Murphy and his dog Holly. Áine had only recently learned to drive, and she was banking on Noel to take over at the wheel. When she arrived at Noel’s house, the place was in darkness. All the curtains were closed. She rang the doorbell and phoned repeatedly, but got no reply. Eventually, Noel appeared. ‘I’ve only just got to bed, two hours’ sleep. You’ll have to drive.’

  At that point, Áine was still fairly new to real-life searches. In her eyes, Holly was a funny-looking dog, with her strange, triangular-shaped head. But she knew, like the rest of us, that Holly was good, really good, with a history to prove it. Holly had already taken part in seven other search operations, all of which were water searches, but nobody had ever been recovered alive.

  They arrived in Enniscorthy and went straight to a briefing, which was held in a large lorry container parked on the banks of the Slaney. Volunteers – among them Harry O’Connor’s wife – were inside, helping to prepare and dish up food. Family members of the missing men were also there. They were busy serving soup and sandwiches, filling mugs of tea and coffee, fussing over everyone else as if they themselves needed no attention or consideration. Áine’s heart was breaking at the sight of them. She couldn’t help but think of those poor unfortunate men and how, if they could see this now, they’d realise the extent of the pain.

  Shane O’Connor, the son of Harry O’Connor, had been on duty one night for two hours. Shane rang his father in a worried state to say that there was a girl on the banks of the river talking on her mobile phone and crying. Harry asked Shane if he had anyone else with him. Shane said that Dario Anetta, the volunteer who was supposed to be on watch with him, had not turned up. Unknown to Shane, Dario was actually on duty only two hundred yards up the quay, unaware that Shane was nearby. He had also spotted the sobbing girl and was keeping a close eye on her. Before the father and son had finished their conversation, the girl had jumped into the river. Dario and Shane both quickly followed, and saved her.

  Áine, Noel and Holly were taken to the banks of the Slaney, which were a hundred yards wide on either side of the river and now heavily flooded – so much so that it was necessary to call off the twenty-four-hour watch on the river even though it was not only to keep a lookout for the missing bodies but also to prevent any further drownings. However, the volunteers’ own safety had to be considered as well, and allowing them to work there in those conditions was too dangerous.

  Now Holly could take over. With Áine and Noel, she combed all along the banks, up and down at either side, undeterred by the wet, boggy ground. Áine and Noel reported back to Harry O’Connor, and assured him that Holly had found nothing along the way. Then they were taken out in a boat with Holly, away from the town. The river was deep and flowing fast. Keeping a close eye on Holly was important. If she gave any indication, the driver would have to be signalled immediately. He would need to turn the boat around, and then move over the exact spot again to get a confirmation of the indication.

  The morning was extremely cold, and Áine and Noel took it in turns to hold Holly as their hands were growing numb. Every now and then along the way, they were hit by low branches. The riverside was thick with reeds that slowed the pace and made the search more difficult. Not far from the town – beside the main Enniscorthy to Wexford road – there came into view a massive, red-brick, flat-roofed building, with barred-up windows and a rectangular tower on top – almost like a watch tower. It was situated on high ground, peering down over the river, the town and its people, keeping them in view, reminding them of its existence, a symbol of power. The driver said it was St Senan’s – Enniscorthy’s psychiatric hospital. Áine felt the shivers run up her spine.

  All along the river, Holly remained fully focused. She gave a few indications by barking. They noted the exact location, moved on down the river, and came back again to double-check. They combed constantly up and down the water, at both sides. At one stage, when the driver went into reverse, they were almost thrown overboard – a reminder that searchers put their own lives at risk while they work.

  Having taken a short lunch break, they worked right through the afternoon, eventually calling it a day, satisfied with Holly’s consistent indications that would allow the divers to concentrate their search.

  The search for the remaining three men lasted almost six weeks, until all bodies were recovered. The last three bodies were all located within a 500-yard stretch from where Holly had indicated. The body of the man who entered the river in Wexford was found on Rosslare Strand after twenty days, while the remains of the first man to enter the water on 11 November became the last body to be recovered, on 20 December.

  The memories of the search haunted Áine for some time to come. The suffering of the families, the iciness of the river, and the torment hanging over Enniscorthy kept playing on her mind. Recently, the mental-health commission visited St Senan’s and recommended that the old red-brick building should be closed down and that alternative care should be provided in the community for long-term patients.

  Today, the makeshift kitchen set up in the truck container in 2002 still stands in the same spot on the banks of the Slaney – a poignant reminder of one dreadful, bleak, cold, wet November when the people from the town of Enniscorthy and surrounding areas came together as one, united in their grief for the men who perished in the river.

  Ninety-one and Missing


  A ninety-one-year-old man disappeared on Friday 20 June 2003, having attended a local football match. He was last seen at Moanroe Cross, Clonmel. There was no obvious explanation for his disappearance, but neighbours believed that the elderly, widowed father of four might have set out to visit a friend that night on his way back to his farm at Caherclough, Lisronagh, near Clonmel. From the outset, there was great worry for his safety, not only because of his age but also because he suffered from Alzheimer’s disease.

  The gardaí issued repeated appeals for information and for help from the public, describing the missing farmer as being of medium height and build, wearing glasses, walking with a slight stoop and using a walking stick. When no clues to his whereabouts came to light, a major search-and-rescue operation got underway. This involved the South East Mountain Rescue Team, SARDA, the Garda Air Support Team, Civil Defence, Air Corps and hundreds of volunteers, including local farmers who abandoned saving crops in their fields to search for the missing man.

  Once I heard about the case, I phoned the gardaí and offered the services of our search dogs. The search co-ordinators involved said they already had plenty of dogs and people out searching. Among those dogs was Eiger, my second-certified, upgraded search dog, who was on loan to SARDA and was now being handled by a woman from Clonmel who was a very experienced dog handler and had, over the years, a number of dogs in training but had not certified any as a search dog. Eventually, despite her many years of experience in dog handling, she had to be certified as a search-dog handler, which meant taking part with Eiger in an assessment, which she passed.

  During the week, I made two more phone calls and repeated the offer of help. Finally, at around 4 p.m. on the Wednesday – the fifth day of the search – I got the shout. Straight away, I contacted the other members of our dog team, and three car loads of us set off in convoy for Caherclough. Our team included Áine, Noel Murphy and Richard Cotter. Noel took seven-year-old Holly, and I had Bob. Both dogs were trained to search for live bodies and cadavers. Such cross-training can be easily achieved, although most other countries consider it complicated, and consequently tend to specialise in only one area or the other. On average, in nine out of ten searches, only one person is found alive. If anything, the figures justify the necessity for cross-training all dogs.

  When we reached Caherclough at about 7.30 p.m., all of the other searchers were leaving to go home. As we made our way into the search area, some of the SARDA dog handlers passed us on the way out, with Eiger in tow. When our briefing was finished, three fields were pointed out to us as our search areas. These particular fields were only third or fourth on the list of probable areas, which is always drawn up prior to the commencement of a search operation and based mainly on likely chosen directions, taking into consideration the missing person’s profile.

  Around the edges of these fields, there were many drainage channels about five feet deep and five feet square. These drains were dangerous as, being covered by brambles and trees, they were invisible. Noel and I, being the two dog handlers on site, took a field each. Our strategy was to search the perimeters first. This was a natural choice as it would be an obvious area for anyone seeking shelter – even animals make for the borders in bad weather. The perimeter of a field should always be checked at the outset as it’s there that a dog is likely to pick up any scent present in the field.

  After only forty-five minutes, Noel contacted me on the radio to say he had found the missing man in the fourteen-acre cornfield. He was lying on his back in a furrow created by a tractor wheel in the perimeter, about five feet from the ditch, and was shielded by overhanging trees. As that particular area was not sown with corn, he was visible. These fields were more than familiar to him: he would have walked them regularly on his way to the river to fish.

  At first, it was thought that the man was not alive. However, as I approached him, I could see the rise and fall of his chest. Áine arrived and immediately took the man’s head in her lap and began to speak with him. He gripped Áine’s hand very tightly and repeatedly pleaded with her not to leave him. Áine told him how we had been searching ‘for hours’ and were not going to leave him now. He was severely dehydrated, sunburnt and very weak. He was wearing a heavy, tweed overcoat over lots of other warm clothing. He continued to grip Áine’s hand so tightly that it began to hurt, but she didn’t mind because it showed that he still had some strength left in him after his terrible ordeal.

  Áine was on a high, thrilled to bits that the missing man had been found alive. This was by far the best part of search and rescue: sensing that you can make a difference by training the dogs, and that you can save people’s lives even though all the odds might seem stacked against you. She was now more committed than ever to a future as a search-dog handler.

  Shortly afterwards, the man said he would love some porridge and a toasted sausage sandwich. Then he asked the name of the dog responsible for finding him. Apparently, he had become disorientated as he walked up the long avenue to his cottage. He had gone off the path and taken the easiest route, which was downhill, until eventually he could go no further.

  Noel phoned the gardaí to tell them the missing man had been found alive. They would not believe him, and thought it was a joke. It took a second phone call from Áine before they were convinced. A half-hour later, all hell broke loose. Jeeps and ambulances appeared from nowhere. The man’s delighted family arrived, with elation and relief written all over their faces.

  At the debriefing, we heard that the field where the man was found had been searched a few times in the previous days. One of the rescue helicopters had a heat-seeking device that projects a beam beneath its flight path and reflects the source of the heat. The helicopter had flown over the cornfield, but the pilot explained that the high trees over the furrows had probably obstructed the detection of any heat there, and also prevented any sighting of the missing man from the air. One of the gardaí added that the man’s body could have been so cold that heat detection may have been impossible. Both explanations were legitimate.

  The field must have been searched on foot by inexperi-enced searchers. If the field had been searched in a co-ordinated manner, they would undoubtedly have found the elderly man. Even if one civilian searcher had walked the perimeter, that person would have had to trip over the missing man to get by. Some of the searchers at the debriefing would not accept that the missing man had been lying in the same spot for five nights and five days. They insisted that they had walked that cornfield many times and that he must have wandered in there only that day. They would not accept that they had missed him.

  He was found only eight hundred yards from where he was last seen, and there is no doubt in our minds that, in this particular case, a bloodhound, if called in early, would have found him in a very short time. When scent leaves a body, the wind spreads it in a variety of ways and forms a rough cone. Once an experienced search dog enters the scent cone, he will strike, usually alerting the handler by putting up his tail and head, and sniffing.

  The man was taken to St Joseph’s Hospital in Clonmel, where he made a good recovery. As he was both a fisherman and hunter, he was well used to the outdoors all his life. For his age, he was a hardy man, and his resilience had definitely stood to him. The fact that the weather had been mild throughout his ordeal had also helped him to survive.

  Holly was hailed as the heroine of the night. She was rewarded for finding the missing man by having a ball thrown over and back to her. All she wanted was a game of catch. With the media focus on Red Cross Search Dogs, we used it wisely by appealing to people to get involved in the volunteer rescue service, and to train their dogs for search-and-rescue work. There is no reason whatsoever why every town in Ireland should not have such a search-and-rescue dog service, especially as training a dog to be a search dog takes only the same amount of time each day as it does to walk a dog, and any dog that hunts is capable of being trained to be a search dog. Specially trained dogs could be called in early and used befor
e large-scale searches begin and hundreds of searchers start trekking across lands and ruining the scent left by the missing person. In Ireland, in addition to the Garda Dog Unit, there are just a few volunteer search-and-rescue dogs, whereas in other countries it’s a statutory requirement to provide such a service locally.

  A week or two after finding the missing man, Áine returned to visit him. She found him in great spirits. Noel, an ambulance driver, regularly called to see him, as on occasion he transferred patients in and out of the hospital where the man was happily being tended to by the nurses and staff in St Joseph’s.

  Sadly, when Áine and I went back again only six months later, we were making the journey to attend his funeral, following his death from natural causes.

  Understanding Lucy

  One Sunday in the summer of 2003, a woman’s bicycle was found abandoned at the bottom of a hill outside the village of Newcastle West, County Limerick. As part of the woman’s normal Sunday-morning routine, she always left her bike there, in exactly the same spot, and then walked the remaining mile to the village. But on this occasion, she never returned to collect the bike, and disappeared without a trace. Locals said she was physically fit but thought that she might have become disorientated.

  Áine, Noel Murphy and Richard Cotter joined the search at 11 p.m. that day, along with Zak, Bob and Holly. The area surrounding the bicycle was so vast that it was almost impossible to decide where to start or which sections to prioritise. Áine and Zak began their search three fields away from the bike. In one of the fields they searched, the ferns had grown to at least six feet in height, making it nearly impossible for anyone to walk through. Áine had to crawl to make progress. They combed through their allocated area for seven hours but found no clues as to the direction the missing woman may have taken. Noel, Richard and their dogs were also out of luck.