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GARDAÍ INVESTIGATING the disappearance of a man in Monaghan 18 years ago have recovered a car from a lake in Fermanagh.
Michael ‘Tony’ Lynch (55) went missing from his home in Clones, Co Monaghan on 6 January 2002. His last known sighting was at Fermanagh Street, Clones, County Monaghan at around 6pm that day.
In January, on the 18th anniversary of his disappearance, investigating gardaí launched a renewed appeal for information, while a search of lakes and quarries in the Clones area were carried out in conjunction with Monaghan Civil Defence.
Yesterday, a search was carried out at Lough Erne in Fermanagh after locals alerted gardaí to what has been described as an ‘anomaly’ in the water.
The locals were aware of gardaí’s renewed appeal for information regarding the location of the car earlier this year and made contact with Clones Garda Station.
Shortly after 2pm yesterday, a joint-operation involving gardaí and the PSNI lead to divers carrying out an underwater search of the lake and discovered that a car was submerged.
The vehicle has been recovered for examination and is believed to be the Mitsubishi belonging to Lynch.
Inspector Graham Tolan of Monaghan Garda Station said, “An Garda Síochána will continue to investigate missing persons’ cases for as long as it takes. In this case, An Garda Síochána have been searching for Mr Lynch for 18 years.
“We are grateful to the members of the public who alerted us to this anomaly in the water. I’d like to remind the public that small pieces of information, no matter how insignificant they may seem, can often prove vital, as is the case today”.
“We will continue to work with Police in Lisnaskea who are investigating the circumstances surrounding the discovery. A family liaison officer attached to An Garda Síochana has been appointed and is liaising with Mr Lynch’s family.”
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Very sad ,but at least some closure. Deepest sympathies to his relatives and friends.
@Liam Dunne: only the car found. No closure yet.
Reminds me of a case I read about a while ago, where a guy vanished in the US and there was no trace of him for years and years. Some internet sleuths were trying to research his disappearance. One of them was scouring Google earth of there area where he lived and noticed something in a pond from the satellite view. Turned out to be the guy’s car. He was there all the time in the pond and nobody noticed it.
@Seán Ó Briain:
Remember that,and the car was relatively close to the edge of the lake the whole time.
@Seán Ó Briain: It was a sinkhole that had filled with water. Florida, I believe.
@Conrad Shields: pretty sure it was a neighbour that found it on Google earth. Wasn’t trying to find it at all, just was looking up his own estate for the craic.
@Wishywashy: sorry that was meant for Sean
Very sad, I was reading yesterday that the partial remains found in Rathmines are still not linked to any missing person, the article was a couple of weeks old, it must be heartbreaking for all these families.
@Sean Higgins: haven’t heard anything about that find before Easter. Surely they must have some leads by now .
I hope for his family’s sake that he’s there with the car so they can have some closure. 18 years is a long time to not know.
Very sad, but at least some closure. Deepest sympathy to all his relatives and friends.
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