When contractors working on a new greenway between Midleton and Youghal in east Cork unearthed a human skull, it started a long-running investigation into the identity of the remains and how they came to be there. Almost five years on, Gardaí are still appealing for information in a bid to give the victim a proper burial.
On 5 January 2021, David Casey was preparing to finish work for the day. The project manager was one of a team preparing a site at Roxborough, around 3km from Midleton in Co. Cork, along what would become a new greenway to Youghal. Located on a backroad adjacent to a disused railway line, the site was fairly unremarkable. Clearance works revealed extensive flytipping, with mounds of rubbish dating back decades. But otherwise there had been little of note uncovered during the ground works.
As David was about to leave, a colleague called him back. There was something unusual he wanted him to look at. As he made his way over to a ditch, David saw the heap of rubbish and, among it, an object that was unmistakably a human skull. "It was immediately obvious that this was a skull. And it's truly a shocking thing to find." Other bones were visible closeby. Shaken by the experience, David immediately called Cork County Council, who alerted local Gardaí in Midleton.
The area was sealed off and an extensive forensic search began, lasting nine days. Garda Paul Cotter took up the case. Forensics had uncovered near full skeletal remains, as well as clothing and footwear belonging to the victim. Post-mortem results allowed Gardaí to build a profile that pointed to a woman who was over the age of 70 at the time of her death, around 5 foot in height with a large frame. Carbon dating carried out at Queen's University Belfast showed she died between 1985 and 1987. There was no known cause of death and no signs of trauma.
Other items found at the scene left Gardaí puzzled. Alongside the human remains, coffin handles and accessories had also been uncovered. And some of these dated back over one hundred years. Paul explains, "The majority were generic, well used coffin handles dating back to the '60s through the ‘70s into the 1980s and there was one coffin handle type that was dated pre-1900s. It was unexpected to find a complete skeletal remains there to begin with but then the numerous coffin parts that we have dated to different eras made it even stranger." With no graveyard in the immediate vicinity, the question was: just how did the remains and the coffin parts end up there.
One theory still being explored by Gardaí is whether the victim’s body has been illegally exhumed from a proper burial place. As yet, they have no conclusive evidence but they continue their investigation.
Despite extensive enquiries, including searches against the national DNA database, Gardaí have so far been unable to establish the victim’s identity. They decided to make a public appeal, one that reached a forensic artist in the United States.
Dr Michelle Vitali from Penn West University in Pennsylvania has assisted police forces around the world. She uses forensic data and her skills as an illustrator to construct sketch images from partial remains, showing how the deceased person may have looked at the time of their death.
These images have been released in the hope that they will finally allow Gardaí to establish the woman’s identity.
David Casey is hopeful that the image will now lead to answers, "It's a great idea now that this has been put out and that it may jog memories and hopefully get a resolution and find out who this person was."
Anyone with information is asked to contact Crimecall on 1800 40 50 60 or Midleton Garda Station on 021 462 1550 .
Crimecall, presented by Carla O’Brien, is on Monday 17th November 9.35pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player
