Body of Cookstown mum whose son died in Thai tsunami found

THE body of a missing Cookstown woman has been discovered.

Teresa Keightley (72) had gone missing on Monday, before her body was found outside the town on Wednesday.

Mrs Keightley’s son, Connor, was the only Northern Irish victim of the 2004 Thai tsunami that killed tens of thousands of people in southeast Asia.

Sean McCarry from the Community Rescue Service confirmed that Mrs Keightley’s body was recovered on Wednesday.

“We want to issue our deepest sympathies to Mrs Keightley’s family, our heart goes out to them,” he said.

“Knowing what her family had gone through in the past it was real- ly important for us to get her home.”

Police confirmed that Mrs Keightley (below) was “no longer considered a missing person”.

Connor went missing during the 2004 Thai tsunami and family members travelled to the country to search for him. The day before they were due home, his remains were found in a makeshift mortuary in Krabi, a town on the Phi Phi islands.

He was identified by dental records, a tattoo and a distinctive watch he had been wearing at the time of the disaster. Connor’s parents learned of their son’s fate in a telephone call from Thailand.

Mrs Keightley said at the time that despite going through such a harrowing experience, she had managed to find some peace.