The search for Adrian Lynch

Thursday 04 August 2016

Adrian went missing on Friday 4th December last year.

The 20-year-old had been in town at a works’ Christmas party and caught a taxi at around midnight getting out at Carrefour Selous.

His parents alerted the police on the Saturday after he’d failed to come home.

At first it was treated as a missing person’s case, but as the scale of the investigation increased, there seemed to be more questions than answers, and a range of more sinister possibilities as to what might have happened began to circulate.

Following a police appeal a number of witnesses came forward saying they’d seen him wandering around in the lanes near where he’d been dropped off. The last confirmed sighting was around 02:00 near Bon Air Riding Stables. He was also seen on CCTV footage.

For more than a month police and other emergency services combed the area, visiting more than 500 homes, appealed for information through the media, and put up posters in an attempt to get a lead. In the end all that was found was his mobile phone, his belt, and his wallet.

By the end of December the search – Operation Panama - was scaled down and police said they believed Mr Lynch was dead having probably been involved in an unfortunate accident or that he may have died from hypothermia.

Investigations revealed his bank account hadn’t been accessed and he hadn’t been spotted at the airport or the harbour. Specialist officers from the UK, including divers and dog teams, were also brought over. In all almost £200,000 was spent on the investigation.

In June an anonymous benefactor offered a £10,000 reward for information that might lead to the finding of Mr Lynch. It prompted a few leads but no concrete results.

One of the areas that was extensively search was Handois Reservoir – less than a mile away from which Mr Lynch was later found.

But, as Detective Superintendent Stewart Gull admits it wasn’t easy: “We used sonar equipment and specialist officers from the UK, we used divers. Latterly, in January, we also used cadaver dogs on the perimeter of the reservoir. Clearly the reservoir is incredibly deep in places and I know from the feedback we had from divers I know they were working on zero visibility. The body that we recovered today was found a short distance from the bank of the reservoir. But, of course, we don’t know if it has been moved, and further forensic analysis will now take place.”

For Islanders the mystery may now have been solved, - although the body has yet to be formally identified - and for the family, in the words of Superintendent Gull there is now hopefully some form of “closure”.