THE brother of a woman whose body was discovered on a Donegal beach more than a decade ago says he is pinning his hopes of finding out what happened her on a Garda whistleblower.

 

Mary Reid’s remains were found on the shore at the Isle of Doagh on January 29 2003.

 

The exact circumstances surrounding her death have never been fully established and her family continues to dismiss Garda claims that she took her own life.

 

They say the matter was never properly investigated and that many questions into Mary’s death remain unanswered.

 

Speaking this week from his home in Drogheda, the deceased’s brother, Joe Reid, said he realised the clock was ticking on getting to the truth. But he said that with Garda whistleblowers coming forward to expose failings in other cases, he hoped that someone might yet reveal what happened to his sister.

 

“I have always tried to keep Mary’s memory alive because the questions we asked in 2003 have never been answered.

 

“We are now getting to the stage where some of the gardai who were involved in the case are retiring and I am looking at other stories from around the country where you have whistleblowers coming forward. I am hopeful that will happen in Mary’s case although I am aware it is a faint hope at this stage,” Mr Reid said.

 

A once prominent IRSP activist, Mary Reid had been working in Derry’s Resource Centre at the time of her disappearance. She was last seen there by colleagues at 9.30am on the day she vanished. Her car was spotted in a car park at the Isle of Doagh at 12.30pm, five hours before her partially naked body was found lying between rocks on the beach.

 

What happened in the hours from 9.30am to 5.30pm is unclear but her brother maintains that someone knows where she was and who she was with.

 

“When Mary’s body was found it was still warm,” says Mr Reid.

 

“But this was a cold January day so where was she during those five hours from when her car was spotted at 12.30pm? There is no way she could have been in the water all that time.”

 

 

That is not the only question the Reid family has either. Joe Reid says that initially the media was told Mary had taken her dogs for a walk and when one had gone into the water, she had gone in after it and drowned. He alleges that a later press statement was released claiming that she had takenher own life.

 

“When Mary’s car was found it had been forensically cleaned. But anyone who knew Mary will know that she was the most untidy person you could have met. She was an academic so there were always bundles of paper in the car. And she was a smoker yet not a single cigarette ash was found. 

 

“Mary had two dogs but when her car was found only one of them was in it. The other dog was never found. Neither were her clothes or her bag. Where did they go? There are just so many questions that we have never had answers to and we don’t believe the gardai ever investigated the case properly. They just accepted it was suicide but I have always said there was no evidence of any kind that Mary committed suicide.”

 

Two years after Ms Reid’s death her other brother, John, took his own life. Joe maintains he never fully recovered from the loss of their sister.

 

Joe Reid says he is certain that Mary did not die at the spot where her body was found. He believes she died elsewhere and her car then driven to the Isle of Doagh.

 

But he says that after more than 15 years, he is no longer looking for justice. He just wants to know what actually happened his late sister.

 

“At this stage we don’t want anyone held responsible because we know that won’t bring Mary back. But someone knows where she was between 9.30am and 5.30pm and I am hoping that in the tides of time, someone will come out and tell the whole truth because that is something we have never had,” Mr Reid said.

 

The Donegal News asked An Garda Síochána for a statement in relation to the Reid case but they have yet to respond.