Gardai hope medical records will confirm identity of body found in Cork house after 20 years

Detectives believe they know the identity of the man whose skeletal remains were discovered in a derelict and boarded up house on Beecher Street in Mallow on Friday.

The death is not being treated as suspicious.

Newspapers and food products in the property - while severely degraded - have indicated the man may have been dead in the property since around 2001/2002.

Neighbours have been questioned by gardaí and the individual involved is believed to have lived at the property for around a decade.

Locals believed the man - who was described as polite, quiet but reclusive - had left Ireland to travel to the UK.

The property involved was later treated as derelict and eventually boarded up.

Cork Co Council workers made the grim discovery when they were working at the property at lunchtime last Friday.

Gardaí are now hopeful that forensic analysis, dental and medical records as well as potentially DNA sampling will confirm the identity of the individual involved.

However, identification efforts may take some time.

Efforts are ongoing to trace suspected relatives of the man to assist with DNA sampling if required.

Detectives have again appealed for anyone with information on the individual involved to help them with their inquiries.

"Gardaí are investigating all the circumstances surrounding the discovery of a body in a house in Mallow, Co Cork at approximately 12pm on January 13,” a garda spokesperson said.

“The scene has been preserved. Enquiries are ongoing.”

The body was removed to Cork University Hospital (CUH) morgue where a post-mortem examination has taken place.

Gardaí were shocked by the suspected length of time the man's remains lay undiscovered at the property.

While the length of the time involved is unique, the recovery of human remains undiscovered in houses for some time is not unusual.

In 2009, the body of a man was discovered partially mummified in a Cork flat after he had died almost two months before.

In 2022, Gardaí dealt with two cases of remains discovered in properties some time after the death of the individuals.

A man discovered in a property in Sallynoggin, in Dublin, is believed to have lain undiscovered for over a year.

In Tipperary, an elderly couple were discovered dead in their rural cottage last June an estimated 18 months after they had passed away.

In their case, locals thought they had travelled to visit relatives overseas when one of the Covid-19 lockdowns were eased.

The alarm was raised by a local who became suspicious of the fact that a car parked at the property had not been moved for months.