Investigations are intensifying in the case of missing Kerry farmer Michael Gaine as Gardai have now shifted focus to trawling through phone records in a bid to solve the mystery which has gripped the small town of Kenmare.
As tourists began to swarm the picturesque town for the May Bank Holiday, locals were still in shock about the ongoing mystery of a well-known member of their tight-knit community.
With Gardai now focusing their primary efforts on solving the case on communications devices, including laptops and phones, Mr Gaine’s farm was eerily quiet.
Gardaí have officially upgraded Mr Gaine’s disappearance to homicide after two months of searches resulted in no leads.
In an interview on Radio Kerry, gardai gave an update on the ongoing disappearance.
Items, such as laptops and mobile phones, and designated areas are now subject to forensic examination.
Up until this week, the disappearance had been treated as a missing persons case, but the Gardai escalated it on Tuesday by upgrading it to a homicide investigation.
CCTV footage of Michael Gaine in Centra in Kenmare town on Thursday, March 20.
This now gives Gardai extra powers in terms of what they can do and the records they can access.
During the past six weeks, Gardai, with assistance from the army and helicopters and drones, searched the 1000 acres of Carrig East which is on the road between Kenmare and Molls Gap and runs all the way down to the famous lakes of Killarney.
All of the land has been searched over the last number of weeks, and a huge amount of resources expended, but yielded no results. The army had been involved, as had the sub-Aqua team, search and rescue dogs, and drone mapping of the area.
The investigation team has also trawled through a huge amount of CCTV, hours of footage, and dash cam footage, and they’ve taken statements.
*This article was originally published on Extra.ie.
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