THE body of a pensioner missing from Dublin since last July lay unidentified in a British morgue for six months.
As the devastated family of Thomas Kennedy led a search in Ireland, Mr Kennedy’s body was discovered in the sea off the coast of Blackpool on August 17, three weeks after his disappearance.
Yet it has taken until now to positively identify his remains, which carried no form of identification.
Gardaí in Ireland confirmed this week that the body of the 81-year-old Irishman had been found.
His death is not being treated as suspicious.
An inquest into Mr Kennedy’s death, led by Blackpool and Fylde Coroner Mr Alan Wilson, is now due to take place on May 7 in the Lancashire seaside town.
Thanking those who had helped in the search a Garda spokesperson said in a statement: “The body of Thomas Kennedy has been located. Gardaí wish to thank the public and the media for all their assistance in this matter. No further action is required.”
Mr Kennedy was last seen outside his Finglas home putting his bins out at 9.30pm on July 29 of last year.
Following his disappearance volunteers came out in their droves to help with the search efforts as a widespread hunt was led by his worried family across Dublin city and county.
But this week news emerged on the Facebook page set up to coordinate that search that a body had been found in Blackpool and identified as that of Mr Kennedy.
A statement on the social media site read: “It's with great sadness that we would like to inform you that the body of Thomas Kennedy has been recovered. Tommy's family would like to extend their thanks to people from all over the country who have been involved in the effort to bring him home. Our condolences to family and friends of Thomas.”
The alarm has been raised over Mr Kennedy’s disappearance when his grandson Ross has returned to the pensioner’s home and noticed his grandfather was nowhere to be found.
As recently as last Christmas the Kennedy family had renewed their appeal.
In an emotional video plea, his son Vincent Kennedy had said: “There’s always that slight, slight hope that he’ll come back to us. I’ll never give up.”
In the weeks following Mr Kennedy’s disappearance, a taxi driver in Dublin told Gardaí that he may have picked up a man matching the pensioner’s description and driven him to Baldoyle, a coastal area near Fingal.
The search was moved to this area but nothing was found.
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