An exhumation has begun at the New Cemetery in Ennistymon as gardaí investigating the death of local woman Emer o’Loughlin search for new evidence in their five year inquiry.
The remains of the 23 year old Art student were discovered in a burnt out caravan between Tubber and Kinvara on the 8th of April 2005, and a suspect identified in a subsequent murder investigation has never been found.
The Garda Cold Case Unit has been carrying out fresh inquiries into the death of Emer o’Loughlin over the past year and today forensic officers have been sanctioned by the Minister for Justice through an order issued by the Clare County Coroner Isobel O’Dea to exhume her remains.
At 7 o’clock this morning the scene at Ennistymon New Cemetery was cordoned off by Gardai from Gort and Ennistymon, as the serious crime review team along with the Forensic State Pathologist Mr Curtin and his staff began the process of carrying out an exhumation of Ms O’Loughlin’s remains.
Garda sources have told Clare FM that the reason for the exhumation is to enhance prospective forensic evidence opportunities in their inquiries, and family consent was obtained well in advance of the this mornings new developments
The death of 23 year old Emer o’Loughlin in April of 2005 shocked locals in Ennistymon and those around Newline, Ballybornagh where she lived near the Galway Clare Border.
Her badly burned remains took days to identify, and though Gort Gardai made appeals for information regarding a male suspect, the man in question has never been found.
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