It has been 18 years since Michael 'Tony' Lynch was last seen.
An Garda Síochána announced today that it had made a significant development in the missing persons case of Lynch, who went missing from his home in Clones, Monaghan in January 2002.
Following reports from members of the public as to an anomaly in the water yesterday, the PSNI and Gardaí retrieved a Mitsubishi car which had been submerged in Lough Erne, Fermanagh. It is believed that the car had belonged to Lynch.
The car will now be sent for a forensic examination.
As part of the renewed appeal into the disappearance of Lynch, An Garda Síochána conducted searches at 10 lakes in Monaghan earlier this year. These searches had been set to continue and were to include lakes in and around the border region, however the searches were suspended in March 2020 arising from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Inspector Graham Tolan of Monaghan Garda Station said today: "An Garda Síochána will continue to investigate missing person’s cases for as long as it takes. In this case An Garda Síochána have been searching for Mr Lynch for 18 years.
"We are grateful to the members of the public who alerted us to this anomaly in the water. I’d like to remind the public that small pieces of information, no matter how insignificant they may seem, can often prove vital, as is the case today."
