Mullingar, Co Westmeath: Man (64) Arrested Over Alleged 1977 Kidnapping Of Mary Boyle (6): *UPDATED Links

*Notorious Child Serial Killer Robert Black Was In Donegal When Mary Boyle Vanished:
*The man arrested on Tuesday in relation to the disappearance of six-year-old Mary Boyle 37 years ago was last night released without charge.

The man, who is in his 60s, had been detained at Mullingar Garda Station under section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act.

After his release a garda spokesman said, pending further investigation, a file will be sent to the DPP. He said officers are continuing to liaise with Mary’s mother Ann Boyle.
*www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/notorious-serial-killer-was-in-donegal-when-mary-boyle-vanished-30693257.html
The little girl went missing while visiting her grandparents’ home in Cashelard, Ballyshannon, Co Donegal, on March 18, 1977. The identical twin, from Belcruit, Kincasslagh, Co Donegal, had travelled to Cashelard with her parents and siblings.

PHOTO: The Prime Suspect: Notorious Child Serial Killer: Robert Black:

At about 3.30pm she followed her uncle, who had gone to a neighbour’s house to return a ladder.

The neighbour’s house was less than 500m away. Near the house, she told her uncle she was turning back. She was never seen again.

Yesterday her mother, Ann speaking in the aftermath of the first ever arrest in relation to her daughter’s disappearance, said people like the family of missing British girl Madeleine McCann should never give up hope of finding missing loved ones.

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A man has been arrested by gardaí today in connection with the alleged kidnapping of a six-year-old girl in 1977.
The 64-year-old man is being held in Mullingar Station under the Criminal Justice Act 1984 and is currently being questioned. He can be detained for up to 24 hours.
www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/i-know-man-held-over-marys-disappearance-says-mother-of-mary-boyle-293410.html 

Read more here: The anguished wait for the Irish families of missing children

The arrest comes after new evidence was discovered by the Review Team based in the Northern Region.

Mary Boyle, who was six years old at the time, went missing from near her grandparents’ home in Cashelard, Ballyshannon, Co Donegal on March 18, 1977.

Mary, from Belcruit, Kincasslagh, Co Donegal, was on a family visit to her grandparents’ home accompanied by her parents and siblings when she disappeared. She has never been located.

As well as the investigation at the time there have been two reviews by An Garda Síochána into Mary's disappearance. The latest began in 2011 and is being undertaken by a Review Team from the Northern Region.
www.independent.ie/irish-news/the-girl-who-seemed-to-vanish-into-thin-air-30683481.html 
“The Review team has to date conducted a significant investigation that has involved interviewing a wide range of people and undertaking a number of searches with the assistance of forensic and geology experts,” said a Garda statement.

PHOTO: Convicted Child Killer Robert Black:

The investigation is ongoing.

Speaking today, Assistant Commissioner Northern Region Kieran Kenny said: "We are appealing for anyone with any information on the circumstances around Mary's disappearance to contact us.

"Even something that people may have thought was insignificant at the time could help us advance the continuing investigation."

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Incident Room at Ballyshannon Garda Station at 071 9858530 or the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111. www.garda.ie

A Family Liaison Officer has been continuously liaising with Mary’s mother, Ann Boyle, to keep her informed of developments including today’s arrest.
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Connemara, Co Galway: Gardai Identify Body Of German Man Found In Wood 8 Years Ago

Gardaí identify body of German man eight years after discovery in Galway wood

GardaÍ have said today that they have now successfully identified the body of a man that was found in December 2006 in the woods by Lough Inagh in Connemara, Co Galway.

The man has been named as Arno Schmitz, a German national who had come to Ireland at the end of September 2005.

His body was discovered on 8 December 2006 and a post mortem found no evidence of trauma or injury. All that was known about the man at the time was that he was between the age of 44 and 66 when he died, he was 5 foot 7.5 inches tall and of stocky build.

He wore a ‘Bush Sports’ yellow hooded jacket and a small holdall bag was found with his remains. Inside it was a Tropicana Pink Grapefruit flavour fruit juice carton with a best before date of 24/12/2005 and a glasses case with a pair of Rayban sunglasses.

There was an address on the inside of the case at Neumünster in Germany but enquiries did not reveal any information, as the glasses were non prescription. House to house enquiries and the canvassing of local hotels and guest houses in and around Clifden and the Lough Inagh area also proved fruitless.
Facial reconstruction

As no identification was forthcoming, the Coroner for West Galway Dr Ciaran McLoughlin made contact with Dr Caroline Wilkinson, a Senior Lecturer in Forensic Anthropology at the University of Dundee in Scotland and the decision was made to release a facial reconstruction image to the Irish media, which was done in 2009.

Then in mid December 2013, a further review was undertaken by gardaí with emphasis on the items in the bag found with the man’s remains. Because of the date on the juice carton, they were led to believe he died sometime in late 2005.

Lines of communication were continued with Interpol and liaison was made with the German Embassy due to the address on the glasses case but authorities there confirmed that no missing person with a similar DNA profile existed on their Missing Persons Database.

Breakthrough:
In April this year, gardaí asked that a press release be circulated to media in German, particularly in the area of Neumünster and a number of articles, accompanied by the facial reconstruction were published.

Finally, there was a breakthrough in the case and one person who came forward was a man who said the image looked very much like that of his brother Arno Schmitz. He said his brother had left Germany for Ireland at the end of September 2005 and had lived in Neumünster before that.

Bernd’s Schmitz last contact with his brother Arno was before Christmas 2005 by phone and at that time he was working in Ireland. That was the last he had heard from his brother. However he had not reported him as a missing person.

Results of DNA profiles on 12 September strongly supported the probability that the body was that of Arno Schmitz and this week, German police informed Bernd Schmitz that his brothers’ remains have been found.

“With little evidence to work with and no missing persons report this was always going to a difficult case to solve,” commented Chief Superintendent Thomas Curley, Galway. “But thanks to the determination of the local Garda investigators and the co-operation of agencies and individual experts we have helped ensure that Mr Schmitz’s family have some closure on this tragic matter.”