Boys’ dad was probed over €60k missing funds
Widespread shock as sons found in boot of father’s crashed car
THE father of two boys found dead in the boot of his car was being investigated by gardaí in relation to the disappearance of around € 60,000 f rom a community organisation.
The bodies of Eoghan Chada, ten, and Ruairi, five, were found when their father Sanjeev’s car crashed into a wall yesterday. He wasn’t seriously injured and was under Garda escort in hospital last night.
The missing funds came to light a fortnight
ago and security sources say the Garda investigation was at an early stage. It is understood that Mr Chada, 43, was involved with the committee at Ballinkillen Community Centre in Co. Carlow. He was under investigation in relation to the theft of around €60,000, which had gone missing from the community centre following a fundraising initiative.
A senior source said: ‘The investigation is at an early stage but we suspect this missing money may have had an impact of the tragedy that ensued. Mr Chada was certainly very stressed out.’
The boys, who were the Chadas’ only children, were already dead when their father crashed into a wall at Clooneen, Rosbeg, just outside of Westport, Co. Mayo, just before 4pm yesterday. A Garda source said last night they were believed to be dead for several hours before they were found. Postmortem examination results are due today.
Last night, Mr Chada was under armed Garda escort at Castlebar Hospital, where his injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.
Mr Chada, known as a talented soccer player and well established member of the local community, was an IT worker, originally from the UK. The brothers, who were described yesterday as ‘happy, outgoing boys who were extremely close’, had been taken out by their father on Sunday evening to go bowling in Carlow town.
Their mother, Kathleen Chada née Murphy, reported her husband and children missing at 1.30am yesterday when they failed to return to the f amily home. The couple l i ved together in a two-storey house.
After gardaí put out a Child Rescue Ireland Alert to the media about the missing boys because of concerns over their father’s ‘stress’, officers were called to a car crash in Rosbeg. It was the first time the CRI Alert has been i mplemented. Officers found the boys in the boot of the green Ford Focus.
Mr Chada, who goes by the name Sanj, was described as ‘well liked’ in the area yesterday while older sibling Eoghan, was described as ‘ very protective’ of his younger brother.
Mrs Chada is a nurse who commutes to a Dublin clinic. Since 2010, she has been working in an egg donation programme for childless couples and has co- ordinated donor cycles for couples undergoing treatment throughout Europe and the US.
Mr Chada looked after the children from home while he worked. He had said he was taking the boys to the Dome Bowling Centre in Carlow town on Sunday but when the Irish Daily Mail phoned the centre yesterday, they had no information on the children so it is not known if they ever visited the facility.
Mrs Chada was at home with her family, friends, and neighbours waiting to hear news that her children had been found when a garda in the house delivered the ‘devastating news’. Parish Priest Fr Declan Foley said: ‘It’s a severe tragedy not just for the family but for the local people also. I was in the house at the time when the news came through. It was so hard for everyone. I know the family so thanks be to God I was there.
‘ Family, extended family, were there. It was like an earthquake had
‘It was like an earthquake had hit’
hit, it was overwhelming for her and everyone to know her two boys had died. There was a garda in the house at the time when word came through there had been an accident in Westport. It was through the garda it was then confirmed and he spoke to Kathleen. It was horrifying. It was everyone’s wish the children would be found and come home but even to think of the possibility they might not was too painful to contemplate and sadly that became a reality and shook everyone to the core.
‘Kathleen is absolutely devastated. To lose one child is absolutely overwhelming, to lose two, I cannot imagine the pain and grief at this time. That won’t easily dissipate. The community has been numbed. Friends and neighbours are being supportive, calling in.’
Fr Foley said he thought the Chadas are married around 11 or 12 years. ‘Kathleen is there with loved ones, family members, trying to absorb what’s happened, waiting to hear what’s happened and we don’t even know what kind of a condition Sanj is in,’ he said. ‘Sanj is a quiet, very popular, respectful individual and Kathleen is extremely bubbly, very content with her life and family and job, all of this has turned her world upside down.
‘ The community i s extremely shocked and saddened by events. I feel very helpless in this situation. Words can’t put meaning to the brokenness the family are experiencing at this time and believe me the family is broken by this tragedy.’
The brothers attended Ballinkillen National School and played GAA for Ballinkillen Hurling Club. Fr Foley said they were lovely boys: ‘I knew the two children – they were lovely, extremely happy and outgoing, very involved in the local GAA club. They played hurling and soccer. The brothers were very close and Eoin was very protective of his younger brother.’