A MAN FROM Newry faces an anxious wait to find out whether a body found on an isolated moor near Manchester in December is that of his father.
Sean Toner, who has provided a DNA sample to police, said the case had “stirred up a lot of emotions” for him.
His father Hugh Toner, who would now be 78, went missing from a hospital in Craigavon, Co Armagh in February 1994.
Manchester police, who have been scouring missing persons cases, asked the Toner family for the DNA sample this week.
Mystery
Officers have been left stumped by the incident despite several appeals to identify the elderly man, found on the isolated hillside on 12 December.
Greater Manchester Police say the body of the neatly dressed man was found on a path leading to a rocky outcrop called Indian’s Head on Saddleworth Moor.
In his pockets were return train tickets and £130 (€170) — but no ID. There were no signs of violence and an autopsy was inconclusive.
The day before he was found dead, the man had taken a train from London, then travelled to the village of Greenfield, where he stopped at a pub and asked how to get to the top of Indian’s Head.
Then he set off on foot, never to return.
Detective Sgt. John Coleman, who is leading the investigation, said this week that detectives were “keeping a completely open mind”.
Missing person reports were being examined, and other angles pursued - including possible links between the deceased and a 1949 plane crash close to the site.
22 years missing
Despite an extensive search for Hugh Toner in the wake of his disappearance – no trace of him was found.
Speaking to Sky News, Sean Toner said the description given by Manchester police matched the description of his dad, right down to his broken nose.
“When it first happened there was a lot of emotion, it was very intense,” he said.
“As the years go by it gets easier but your thoughts were always there.
I think about my dad every single day. I always wonder what happened to him, where did he go?
Sean Toner said his father had worked in the construction industry in England for years.
With reporting by Associated Press.
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