Gardaí issue new computerised photo-fit

Date Published: 21-Oct-2009

by Frank Farragher

Gardaí have issued a computerised photo image of a man whose body was found close to a Connemara lake nearly three years ago – it still lies unidentified in the morgue of University Hospital Galway.
Efforts by Gardaí in Clifden to identify the man – found in a wooded area near Lough Inagh in North Connemara on December 8, 2006 – have proven unsuccessful.
Now, Gardaí are hoping that the photo image – developed with the assistance of Dundee University, and based on the shape of the man’s cranium – can help to identify him.
The man is thought to have died in the Summer of 2005 – his body was discovered by a game shooting party in a wood near the north shore of Lough Inagh, just across the road from the Lough Inagh Lodge Hotel, a year and a half later.
A subsequent post mortem examination carried out on the partially decomposed body did not reveal the cause of death but it did conclude that there was no evidence of trauma on the skeletal remains.
Some cash was found in the wallet of the victim – which does indicate that he wasn’t robbed – but there was no ID of any kind located.
Investigating Gardaí are checking out the possibility that the man could be of continental – possibly German origin – based on the clothing he wore and also the nature of dental work carried out on his teeth.
The man was aged between 44 and 66, was just over 5’7” tall, with a stocky build and a 37” waist. He was of athletic disposition and may have been a mountain climber or a regular walker.
He wore a distinctive Bush Sports yellow hooded jacket with a dark blue fleece lining and wore two pairs of socks, inside a pair of Marco Donati walking shoes. He was also wearing a Newton and Sons Heritage brand wrist watch.
Superintendent Tony O’Donnell, of Clifden Garda Station, who is heading up the investigation to try and identify the body, told the Connacht Tribune that they were hoping that the computer image of the man – being circulated to media outlets across Ireland and Europe – would help jog the memory of some friends or family.
“We feel that someone out there might recognise this man who has lain in the morgue of UHG for nearly three years. If anyone can help us they should contact Clifden Garda Station at (095) 22500,” said Supt O’Donnell.