Q&A – Police on the latest on the search for Adrian Lynch

Thursday 07 January 2016

It has been more than a month since 20-year-old Adrian Lynch disappeared while walking home on a night out.

The disappearance of the young electrician saw an unprecedented search effort that saw thousands of man-hours put in by the emergency services, searches by the public, and the deployment of divers, sonar equipment, sniffer dogs, drones, and the Channel Islands Search Aircraft.

That physical search operation has now been concluded but a team of six detectives is still working to find out what happened to Adrian – Bailiwick Express spoke to Detective Chief Inspector Lee Turner to find out what’s happening now.

Q – Where are you up to with the inquiry over the disappearance of Adrian Lynch?

A - The early search activity stopped just before Christmas, when we concluded searching the areas that we were particularly interested in. The investigation work continues – we still have a team of detectives on this and we are making use of the HOLMES computer system, which is a nationally-used database. We have had something in the order of 90-plus calls from the public and just over 300 lines of inquiry or actions logged, about half of which still remain to be worked upon. There are still a number of lines of inquiry including CCTV and garages and repair shops on the possibility that he may have been stuck by a vehicle, and liaison with family and friends to develop a picture and understanding of Adrian. There is still a lot of work to do. The renewal of search activity will be considered if new information comes to light.

Q – Some time ago, the police said that they working theory was that Adrian had become disoriented from hypothermia while walking home inebriated, and had probably died of exposure. Is that still the theory, or are you now thinking that someone else might have been involved?

A - That is still our main belief. That we are now a month into this and that he has not been found does not necessarily decrease that possibility. As far as any third-party involvement or criminal activity goes, there is still no indication of that. So the fact that we have not found him a month later might be viewed by some as suspicious – conversely, had something criminal happened, in a small Island community like this we might have had indications about that by now.

Q – There has been talk about a possible car accident – what kind of leads are you following on that?

A - It is still our belief that he got himself trapped or has fallen somewhere and has not been discovered, although we do keep an open mind, and another possibility is that he has been struck by a vehicle. We have been making contact with garages along those lines to ascertain any circumstances of vehicles brought in for repair since 4 December.

Q – What can you tell us about the other lines of inquiry that you are working on?

A - We are still working on contacting people at the party that night at the Merton – there was about 100 people. We have got a team of around six officers, plus some support from Guernsey, and analytical support to that investigation team. We’re still reviewing the products of the house to house inquiries – we have visited over 300 properties and spoken to 500 people. There is still a lot of work to do.

Q – We’re now past a month since Adrian went missing, surely you expected to find him by now?

A - We did not expect to still be looking a month later. If you were to walk around the general area just south of Carrefour Selous to St John’s Village, up to a kilometer or two to either side you get an idea of the extent of the area and the topography. It is a significant area – it’s practically the size of St Martin. It’s a significant area with many possible places where somebody could remain undiscovered and there is the possibility that he may have travelled outside of that area, which is why we keep repeating requests to the community and to property owners.

Q – Are there any areas that you have not been able to gain access to? Is there a site that you want to search, but haven’t been able to?

A - No. Within our search areas we have had great support from landlords and property owners. In those areas that have been more challenging we have made use of sonar equipment, sniffer dogs and divers. There is probably a very small number of areas within the bigger picture that we were left to do just before Christmas, and we have all but completed those now.

Q – The response from Islanders to the story has been extraordinary – how has it affected the investigation?

A - The community support, here in Jersey on this particular matter, is as you would expect fantastically strong. We are really grateful for that support from the public. There is a passion and a really powerful will out there to help to find Adrian and a recognition by most people of the suffering that his family has gone through. It is at times like this that you see a small community at its best.

Q – How is the inquiry being categorised? It has been described as a missing person inquiry, how is that different to a criminal investigation?

A - This is a missing person inquiry – we are applying the rigour we would apply to a criminal investigation. We are not investigating a crime as such at the moment, but we are keeping our minds open should it veer towards a criminal investigation. If we had something of interest then we would give forensic attention to it in the same way that we would a crime matter, in case it turns one way or the other. But the current indications remain that it is an accidental matter.

Q – What are the next steps for you?

A - We would like to ask property and land owners to recheck their properties and for farmers to ask farmworkers to check commercial outbuildings, fields and commercial properties. I would not restrict that to the central parishes but also the wider area. The chances are that he is on private land somewhere.