THE INVESTIGATION into the disappearance of Tina Satchwell has suffered a setback after it emerged that a portion of vital CCTV footage from an area of east Cork has been deleted.
Gardai launched a major site search at Mitchel’s Wood, Castlemartyr, Co. Cork on Monday following a tip-off from a ‘credible source’.
Up to 60 personnel are currently searching the sprawling woodland for the 45-year-old who disappeared from her home in Youghal last March.
Now, according to Independent.ie, CCTV camera footage from various premises in the east Cork village has been examined as part of that search.
A quantity of CCTV footage, believed to be vital to the investigation, was deleted because of the significant time lapse involved.
Crucially, there is no CCTV camera footage of the entrance to Mitchel’s Wood.
Other footage is now being examined in an attempt to determine the possible movements of vehicles of interest to the gardai.
Since Monday, the woods have been divided into various search zones.
A specialist search team, Defence Forces engineers and canine units are expected to trawl through the 40 acres of forest for at least the next two weeks.
The search of the area followed a phone call to gardai from a member of the public after an RTE Prime Time special aired last January which featured Ms Satchwell’s disappearance.
Gardai have also implemented a no-fly zone over the search area amid concerns some people might use camera-equipped drones to hover over the site.
