Appeal on man missing for years

Mar 26 2008 by Neil Mckay, The Journal

A DETECTIVE last night repeated his determination to find out what happened to a quiet, unassuming man who vanished without trace six years ago.

Speaking on the anniversary of the disappearance of ex-miner Eddie Donnelly yesterday, Detective Superintendent Neil Malkin repeated his belief that the 53-year-old was murdered.

And he said he was also sure there were people living in the close-knit community of Sacriston, near Durham, who knew how he had met his death.

Mr Donnelly was 53 when his sister Frances reported him missing from the home they shared in Fynway, Sacriston.

Despite the police carrying out exhaustive searches at locations in Sacriston and surrounding areas involving the use of specialist search dogs, Mr Donnelly has never been found.

A number of people have also been arrested and questioned in connection with his disappearance – including Frances Donnelly and her daughter – but no one has been charged. Three years ago Det Supt Malkin, leading the investigation, confirmed that what had begun as a missing from home inquiry had become a murder hunt.

He said yesterday: “There is not a scrap of evidence to suggest that Mr Donnelly is alive and everything points to the likelihood that not only is he dead, but also that he met his death at someone else’s hands.

“As it is the sixth anniversary of his disappearance, we are once again taking the opportunity to appeal for further information about what has become of him.

“This remains very much a live inquiry and we are determined to bring the person or people responsible to justice.

“We remain convinced that there are individuals within the community in which Mr Donnelly lived who have information vital to the inquiry and that, for whatever reason, they have failed to come forward with those details.

“I would appeal to them now to salve their consciences and get in touch with us.”

Investigators can be contacted via the police non-emergency number 0845 6060 365 or the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

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From a missing person inquiry to a murder hunt

March 25, 2002: Eddie Donnelly leaves the house he shared with sister Frances in Fynway, Sacriston, and posts the keys through the letterbox.

The last reported sighting of him is near the Red Lion pub on the A167 at Plawsworth, between Chester-le-Street and Durham.

April 22, 2002: A team of 31 search and rescue volunteers carry out a thorough but fruitless search of the Durham countryside around Mr Donnelly’s home.

December 16, 2003: Divers search an overgrown pond in the hope of unraveling the 21-month mystery behind the disappearance of Mr Donnelly.

March 19, 2005: Durham Police take up floorboards and carpets in a house in Elm Street, Sacriston.

The householder, John Pounder, 49, is arrested on suspicion of perverting the course of justice and bailed while forensic investigations are carried out. Mr Pounder dies soon afterwards and an inquest records a verdict of death by natural causes.

June 2005: Police with sniffer dogs search more than 100 disused mineshafts around the Sacriston and Plawsworth area but fail to find Mr Donnelly’s body.

August 2005: Police remove dense vegetation and dig up tonnes of earth covering an old air-raid shelter at Acornclose Lane, Sacriston.

November 17, 2005: Police describe the investigation as a murder inquiry for the first time, after making three arrests.

November 18, 2005: Officers make a fourth arrest.

November 19, 2005: Kevin Griggs, 41, and George Wright, 45, are both released without charge after being arrested on suspicion of murdering Mr Donnelly.

Mr Griggs’s wife Marie, 39, of Morningside, and her mother, Frances Donnelly, 65, sister of the missing man, who were arrested on suspicion of attempting to pervert the course of justice, also released without charge.