Gardaí begin canvassing Mallow dentists to identify skeletal remains

Gardaí investigating the discovery of human remains at a derelict house in Mallow in north Cork have begun canvassing local dentists to see if any of them treated the last known owner of the property in the hope it may help them identify the remains.

Gardaí want to establish if any local dentists have records relating to the last occupant of the single-storey terraced house at Beecher’s Street where the human remains were found on Friday.

Gardaí are remaining tight-lipped about the possible identity of the skeletal remains as they cannot discount the possibility they belong to someone who squatted in the property after it was vacated.

Locals said the house belonged to a Tim O’Sullivan, who was in his late 50s when he disappeared from the area about 20 years ago. Neighbours believed he had returned to the UK where he had lived for some time before buying the house.

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[ DNA profiling may be needed to confirm identity of dead man found in derelict Cork house ]

Local auctioneer Liam Mullins confirmed he had sold the house on behalf of two sisters to Mr O’Sullivan in 1987 and locals say Mr O’Sullivan lived there for a number of years but was rarely seen in public before he disappeared sometime in the early 2000s.

Gardaí found a container of butter in the fridge in the house with an expiry date of 2001, leading investigators to believe that, if the body is that of Mr O’Sullivan, then it is quite possible his remains had lain undiscovered in the vacant and derelict property for more than 20 years.

Locals on Beecher Street said Mr O’Sullivan did not mix much with people in his time in the area, though one person reported he used to drink in a local pub but stopped going there sometime around the early 2000s after he said he had contracted a respiratory illness.

The two front windows and letter box on the door of the house have been boarded up for some time with some locals saying they believed the windows were boarded up approximately 15 years ago, but no one was able to say when exactly or who had boarded up the premises.

It is understood Garda technical examiners found no evidence of the boarding on the windows having been disturbed or breached, which suggests the skeletal remains found on the property were in the building when it was closed up.

Cork County Council confirmed on Sunday the house was privately owned and the property was being inspected by council staff after the serving of a compulsory purchase order notice. It is believed this was attached to the property which happens when the owner cannot be traced.

It is understood two council staff from Mallow had entered the property to block up drains and shores after reports of rodent infestation in the house and when they pulled back a duvet on a bed in one of the bedrooms, they found the skeletal remains.

Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margot Bolster carried out a postmortem on the skeletal remains at Cork University Hospital on Saturday and informed gardaí there was nothing to suggest the deceased had died a violent death or that foul play was a factor.

News that human remains had been found at the house and that they may have been lying there undiscovered for more than 20 years has been greeted with shock and sadness in Mallow with several people lighting candles and leaving bouquet of flowers at the door of the house on Monday.

Jacqueline Gilligan and her daughter, Katelyn, came from Castlemagner near Kanturk for an appointment in Mallow but when they were in the town, they decided to buy some flowers and leave them at the house as a mark of sympathy for the deceased.

“It’s someone’s son – it’s just very heartbreaking to think someone could die and be lying there for 20 years with no one noticing or missing them.”