Gardaí narrow search area for doctor’s body
GARDAÍ searching for the body of a missing doctor are concentrating on an area of just a few hundred metres.
A letter sent to gardaí in recent weeks gave what claimed to be the exact coordinates where missing Dr Deirdre O’Flaherty could be found.
The location is a very remote area of bogland between the seaside villages of Rathmullan and Kerrykeel in Co. Donegal.
Gardaí moved into the area on Tuesday and are expected to remain there for up to five days.
They are now painstakingly removing layer after layer of soil which they are examining for any possible clue that may lead them to Ms O’Flaherty.
They had initially considered using geothermal imaging in a bid to locate any remains. However, due to the terrain’s rocky nature, it was decided to scrape away layers of soil using a smaller digger.
A source said: ‘This is a painstaking operation and it is in a very rough and messy area of land.
‘We have to take back layers of soil at a time and analyse them before continuing with the dig.
‘It is a very delicate and sensitive operation and it will take us a number of days.’
As of yesterday afternoon, no trace of the missing doctor had been located at the site.
Ms O’Flaherty, 46, from Strabane in Co. Tyrone was reported missing on January 11, 2009 at Moville on the Inishowen Peninsula in Co. Donegal. She had been staying at a holiday home with her husband and their children.
Her car was found at Kinnagoe Beach, and she was known to have suffered from depression, leading to suspicions she had taken her own life.
In February 2012, Belfast High Court ruled that it was satisfied that she was dead. It was the first time the Presumption of Death Act 2009 was used to speed up the process by which a missing person may be declared dead.