GARDAÍ INVESTIGATING THE disappearance of teenager Ciara Breen in 1997 will make a fresh appeal on Crimecall tonight.
Their investigation has been ramped up in recent weeks after more potential witnesses came forward. Gardaí also received an anonymous letter about the case.
The developments came after a media appeal last month.
Investigators wish to talk to the author of the letter and will make a direct appeal to them on RTÉ tonight. Ciara’s mother Bernadette will also appear on the show.
Ciara was last seen at her home in Bachelor’s Walk, Dundalk on 13 February 1997. Her last movements will be reconstructed on the programme this evening.
Bernadette believes Ciara was murdered. It is understood she left the house by her bedroom window to meet up with somebody while her mother slept.
Speaking to local paper, the Dundalk Leader, Detective Inspector Pat Marry said, ”Ciara’s friends are all in their mid 30s now and many of them probably have children of their own so we would hope that they may now know what Ciara’s mother must be going through and to help us give her some closure on her daughter’s disappearance.”
Catching criminals
Tonight’s Crimecall will also feature appeals about an aggravated burglary at a family home in Monaghan and a robbery at a Dublin bank.
On 2 November, a gang armed with a sledgehammer, axe and crowbar entered the property in Castleblaney. The emergency call was made to police by a 12-year-old girl living there.
The second robbery took place on 23 November at 4.40am outside a bank in Rathgar. CCTV to be aired today shows a businessman being set upon by an armed man dressed in women’s clothes.
Solved
The body of Arno Schmitz was found in Connemara in December 2006 but it took eight years for his remains to be identified.
Using a photofit, dental records and DNA, gardaí were able to confirm in September this year that the remains belonged to the German national.
A post mortem found no evidence of trauma or injury.
Arno’s brother, Brent, travelled to Ireland to visit his grave at the end of October. Crimecall accompanied him and footage will be shown tonight of the moment.
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