Parents told ‘missing’ son’s remains were discovered 25 years ago but only identified last Friday

The family of a Limerick man, declared missing for the past 25 years, has been informed by gardaí that remains discovered in 1996, a few weeks after he disappeared, have recently been identified as those of their son.

Denis Walsh was 23 when he went missing, after leaving his home in Caherdavinon on March 9th, 1996.

Over the years since, Mr Walsh’s parents, Denis snr and Mary, have made appeals for information, and even travelled abroad to follow up on a number of reported sightings of their missing son.

Mr and Mrs Walsh said they were visited by two members of An Garda Síochána over the weekend, who informed them that gardaí had received confirmation that human remains found in 1996 were those of their missing son.

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In response to queries, a Garda spokesman said: “On the 9th of March 1996, Mr Denis Walsh, Caherdavin, Limerick, was reported missing to gardaí at Mayorstone Park Garda station in Limerick. The missing person investigation file remained open until now.

“In April 1996, an unidentified body was recovered off Inis Mór, Aran Islands, Co Galway. This unidentified body was taken to the mortuary in UCHG.

“Bodily samples were taken and forwarded to the forensic science laboratory in an effort to identify the deceased. These samples were examined in July 2008, March 2011 and June 2017, with negative results for a match.

“On the 5th of February 2021, gardaí in Mayorstone were notified of a positive match following advances in DNA. The remains were positively identified from reference samples from both parents as that of Mr Walsh. The family have been notified.”

Speaking on Monday night, Mike Walsh, a brother of the deceased, said gardaí had informed them his brother’s remains had been “buried in a communal grave at Bohermore Cemetery, Co Galway, in 2014”.

Mr Walsh said the family now want to have his brother’s remains “exhumed” and laid to rest in Limerick near the family’s home.

‘Bewildered’

Denis Walsh snr said he was “thankful” to gardaí but also felt “upset” and “bewildered” as to why his son had not been identified sooner, particularly around the time his remains were found.

“I would have to say I am mad at what has gone on for the past 25 years. At least we’ll hopefully be able to get the remains back and have a Christian burial,” Mr Walsh said.

He said the family had travelled to Cork, Kerry, Dublin, Fermanagh and England searching for their son.

Mary Walsh said: “To be honest I have thanked God that I am finally getting Denis home and that some of the mystery is solved. We have had 25 years of worrying, and wondering where was he, and I felt that something serious had happened to him.

“So, it is a sense of relief to know that we are finally getting closure, and that we will have a grave to visit and finally be able to talk to Denis. Every morning, noon, and night, I would just think, ‘where are you Denis?’” He was the youngest of five children.