Vanished without trace
After Dolores Mccrea went missing in 2004, detectives made a horrifying discovery in her ex’s garden…
MURDER MY SWEETHEART: THE KILLING OF DOLORES MCCREA Thursday, 9pm, Channel 5 Factual
On 20 January 2004 39-year-old Dolores Mccrea disappeared from her home town of Ballintra, County Donegal.
The mum-of-four had last been seen calling in to see her estranged husband, Gary Mccrea, on her way to a darts match.
Gruesome scene
Mccrea claimed Dolores had left his house. But during a routine search of his property two days later, detectives made a chilling discovery.
In the smouldering remnants of a large fire in the back garden, they found hundreds of fragments of human bone and teeth.
‘When I found out, I just started shouting and saying I knew he was going to kill her,’ says Dolores’ daughter Sharon Walsh, who had witnessed years of violence in the family home. ‘In that moment, I knew she was gone and I knew he’d done it.’
Detectives also suspected that Mccrea had murdered his wife, but there was a problem. The bones were so damaged, it was impossible to identify them via DNA. And without Dolores’ body, Mccrea couldn’t be charged.
However, forensic experts painstakingly pieced together a skeleton from the tiny bone fragments and were able to tell it was a woman in her 30s.
Justice at last
The teeth from the site were also compared to Dolores’ dental records and, finally, detectives were able to confirm the human remains belonged to Dolores. Gary Mccrea was convicted of her murder in 2005 and sentenced to life in prison.
‘The idea of facing him in court was scary, but
I was going with a purpose and that was to fight for justice for Mum,’ says Sharon. ‘She lives on in everything we do and he can never take that away.’