A few week's ago I was flicking through the Sunday World and came across an article by Nicola Tallant and Donal MacIntyre about how Gardai had virtually destroyed a possible shallow grave of Irelands longest missing child Mary Boyle.
Mary vanished 36 years ago in Cashelard, Ballyshannon, Donegal, 2 days after her disappearance 3 farmers came across what looked like a shallow freshly dug grave on boggy land, one of the farmers pulled a sod and saw what appeared to be brown hair, he froze and informed Gardai what he had seen, they had also marked the spot, but for some strange reason this wasn't followed up by Gardai and they never searched the spot or mentioned it again.
On 3 reviews of the case over the years Gardai never excavated the 4ft X 2ft spot, nor ever gave any explanation as to why not.
A few months ago the Sunday World cold case team got involved, they then commissioned a company called Scantech to do a geo-physical scan of the ground on March 27 and 28 this year , the exact area that the 3 farmers had identified 36 years ago showed disturbance, the Sunday World team gave the details to Gardai, Scantech also offered their services to Gardai free of charge as they had also done for the Sunday World team.
A few days after the Sunday World had given the Gardai the "new" information a team of officers and a JCB arrived and dug, spread, turned and patted down with the JCB a quarter acre of land around the 4ft X 2ft spot, effectively destroying evidence that they had ignored for 36 years.
The Gardai refused to give any statement on the dig/destruction.
The boggy land would have preserved any DNA and forensic evidence.
An ex Garda, retired Garda Sgt Alan Bailey slammed the dig.
FORMER GARDA SLAMS DIG OPERATION IN SEARCH FOR MISSING MARY BOYLEA former leading Garda has slammed an operation which dug up a site using a JCB as part of the search for the body of Mary Boyle.
However, retired Garda Sgt Alan Bailey, who worked with the Serious Crime Unit, said a much more thorough search should have been carried out.
In fact, he said an
archeological-type dig using scraping tools should have checked every inch of soil.
“
I have never heard of a JCB being used in a search for a shallow grave. In fact it would just be about the last thing you would use,” he said.
Gardai told
Donegal Daily they are
not making any comment on the latest dig for the six year old who went missing 36 years ago.
http://www.donegaldaily.com/2013/04/21/former-garda-slams-dig-operation-in-search-for-missing-mary-boyle/
Nicola Tallant retraces the final fateful walk taken by
Mary Boyle, Ireland's longest missing child.
http://www.sundayworld.com/top-stories/crime-desk/investigations/mary-boyles-last-journey
Is this Mary Boyle's shallow grave?
However, despite the fact it was marked and reported to gardai working on the case,
it was never checked out, a Sunday World investigation reveals today. We can also disclose how the site is set to be dug up in a new review that could lead to the first major breakthrough in the hunt for the little girl.
We can reveal how:
- a shallow grave was reported to Gardai THREE times across three decades but has yet to be excavated;
Today, Mary's twin sister Ann also issues a desperate plea to the Gardai to excavate the grave discovered by witnesses on the hillside where her sister disappeared 36 years ago.
The site, a little over a hundred metres from the last place Mary was last seen alive, was identified by three witnesses just two days after she went missing,
but has never been searched or undergone any forensic analysis.
Three searchers, including farmer John Gallagher (no relation), say they came across what looked like a freshlydug grave measuring about four feet by two feet.
One of the trio, who has since died, later told an officer involved in the original investigation that he pulled at some of the sod and
saw what looked like brown hair.
He said he marked the site with a stick and made his way to a mobile unit which was being used as the Garda's headquarters during the searches. He informed an officer of his find. The Sunday World understands that the
grave was never mentioned again and weeks later, when Gallagher enquired, he was informed that it had been ruled out.
Weeks after her disappearance, two graves were dug in lands near the family farm. They were routinely excavated to make sure they held animal remains and not the child,
but incredibly, the one nearest the place where she was last seen was left untouched.http://www.sundayworld.com/top-stories/news/is-this-mary-boyle-s-shallow-grave
MISSING MARY’S SISTER COMPLAINS TO GARDAI ABOUT DIG
Gardai used a JCB to excavate a quarter acre site just 100 metres from where Mary was last seen in Cashelard near Ballyshannon in 1977.
It follows a scan by a geophysical company Scantech who identified a possible burial site in the area.
However before they could finalise their report, Gardai carried out a dig
http://www.donegaldaily.com/2013/04/29/missing-marys-sister-complains-to-gardai-about-dig/
GARDAI USE JCBs TO DIG NEW SITE IN MARY BOYLE CASE
Gardai have used JCBs to carry out a new dig of an area identified as a possible burial place of missing Mary Boyle.
However a spokesman for the Garda Press office said
they were not making any statement on the new dig.http://www.donegaldaily.com/2013/04/18/gardai-use-jcbs-to-dig-new-site-in-mary-boyle-case/
X-Ray scan reveals hidden grave
A SPECIALIST scan of a site near where six-year-old Mary Boyle disappeared 36 years ago has sensationally found evidence of a possible grave. A Sunday World commissioned geo-physical survey of the site just metres from where Mary was last seen,
indicates a significant disturbance underneath the ground. It is the exact spot where witnesses first identified a possible shallow grave just days after she disappeared.
We informed the Gardai of the developments on Friday and will be handing them the full report from respected company Scantech. Last night they had yet to cordon off or protect the area, however.
Inexplicably, the Gardai at the time did not investigate the ground and the
report appears to have been forgotten or lost.
The site was never checked. Fifteen years ago during a review of the case, Gardai again made inquiries about the report,
but again nothing was done.
"We have discovered a significant cluster of anomalies at the location and feel that this site needs to investigated thoroughly," Scantech chief executive Tom Davitt told the Sunday World.
"We don't know what is there, but it is consistent with the witness reports.You can't tell exactly until you excavate. The anomalies were where the witnesses pointed them out."
The Sunday World passed our findings and the preliminary Scantech report on to Detective Superintendent John O'Reilly, who said he is reviewing the fresh evidence.
http://www.sundayworld.com/top-stories/crime-desk/donal-macintyre-s-crime-cafe/x-ray-scan-reveals-hidden-grave
I can't find the Sunday World article I first read after the dig online, but if the paper is still lying about I'll photograph the article and post it up.
I've so many questions in this case, to me it seems the Gardai or some senior member(s) has something to hide, why would a spot found 2 days after her disappearance with brown hair coming from the ground NOT be immediately cordened off and forensically investigated?
WHY did the Gardai use a JCB to dig, turn and spread, then pat down a quarter acre when the 4ft X 2ft area had been pointed out to them on numerous occasions and coincidently also the exact same spot showed disturbance when X-Ray'd?
This can't be simply a case of Garda stupidity.
