The mysterious disappearance of a Carna woman 30 years ago this month is now being actively investigated by Gardaí in Connemara again.
Mrs. Barbara Walsh vanished from her home in Rusheenamanagh in Carna on a June night in 1985 and no sightings of her have been reported ever since then.
The mother of a young family – one was an infant at the time – was last seen in her home on that June night; there was a party type occasion in the house on the night in question.
Garda records show that Barbara Walsh’s disappearance was reported to them on June 29 1985. It is not clear what the extent of investigations were at the time and the case has remained open ever since.
The reason for the renewed investigation 30 years later is not known. However, it is understood that Barbara Walsh’s disappearance was among the cases that came up at a review of missing persons by Gardaí earlier this year.
House to house inquiries have been conducted by Gardaí in the Rusheenamanagh area in Carna this past week and people who were at the party type event in Mrs Walsh’s home 30 years ago are also being interviewed.
However, it is understood that the inquiries are not in the realm of a criminal investigation and further steps – if any – will depend on the outcome and assessment of the results of the present inquiries.
It is not known if searches will be carried out or if any specialist section of the Garda services will be deployed.
Barbara Walsh was a month short of her 34th birthday when she disappeared.
A number of people came to the home of Mrs Walsh and her now deceased husband on the night/morning she went missing; some of them had been socialising in a local pub during that evening.
It emerged later that Mrs Walsh disappeared from the house sometime during the night/morning that the party type occasion was held there.
As far as is known inquiries about Mrs Walsh whereabouts yielded little, if any, insight following her disappearance and the case has remained a mystery over the years.
The post Gardaí reopen thirty year old investigation appeared first on Connacht Tribune - Galway City Tribune.