New DNA tests have identified the man whose body washed up on a beach in County Louth 10 years ago.

The tests have shown that it was the body of Joseph Reilly, who was 50 years old when he disappeared in December 2006. He was living alone at Hatch Street in Dublin city when he vanished. His family has searched for him for more than a decade ago.

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Six months after Reilly went missing, a man’s body washed up at Rockmarshall Beach, north of Dundalk. It was evident that the body had been in the water for many months.

Inscription on the cross marking the resting of place of a man who was unknown when he was buried in Co Louth ten years ago. Recent DNA tests revealed he was Joseph Reilly (50) who vanished in Dublin in 2006. pic.twitter.com/Imydqbb5UF

— Donal O'Keeffe (@Donal_OKeeffe) December 3, 2017

The unidentified body was buried locally and who he was remained a mystery, until now.

RTE reports that Forensic Science Ireland recently solved the case after two brothers of Reilly were asked by gardaí to provide DNA samples as part of an ongoing police operation seeking to identify unidentified bodies.

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The samples provided by the family were a match with a sample from the unidentified body buried in Co Louth.

Joseph Reilly’s family told RTE they wanted to thank the community of Lordship for caring for their brother’s grave for over 10 years.