THE family of Kelly Lynch, who died in March, have claimed “there’s a lot of discrepancies” in the investigation of her death after a review has been ordered by the Garda Commissioner.
The body of Ms Lynch, a much-loved 23-year-old from Lisnaskea, was found in the Ulster Canal in Monaghan on St Patrick’s Day. Her body was found 30 hours after her last confirmed sighting.
A special BBC Spotlight documentary ‘The Body Below the Bridge’ recently explored the circumstances surrounding the death of Ms Lynch, with her family questioning the Gardai.
“There’s no clarification and there’s a lot of discrepancies. I just find it so strange that, you know, eight months on, those answers still have not been given to us,” her mother, Julieanne, said.
It has been reported that Ms Lynch was on her way home from a night out in Monaghan with her boyfriend and his friends on March 16. Her last confirmed sighting was outside a national school.
Her body was discovered 400-yards from a bridge over the Ulster Canal around 30 hours later.
Ms Lynch’s family has questioned the Gardai’s initial reaction to the investigation into her death.
“Anybody knows the first 24 hours is crucial in any investigation,” her father, Sean, said.
“There was CCTV there – if it was got to on time it would definitively prove if Kelly walked on her own, she ran, or if she even went by at all.”
The Lisnaskea family also said that when they received their daughter’s clothes, they noticed small red marks on her shoes.
When I asked the senior investigating officer about it he told me: ‘Sure if you think it’s blood why didn’t you get it tested yourself?,” Ms Lynch’s father said.
“And when I put it to them at the meeting, he said: ‘What I said was sure you’re entitled to get it tested yourself. Adding the word ‘entitled’ doesn’t make it any less hurtful.”
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