Dean Roche was 31yrs old when he went missing from Ballyfoyle, Kilkenny, Ireland on Sunday 22 March 2015. He lived with his mother in Hebron Park, Kilkenny and had left home that morning to purchase a car telling her he would see her later. It was established he travelled by taxi to Ballyfoyle at approximately 19:00hrs. Shortly afterwards, the vehicle was found crashed a short distance away. The last confirmed sighting of him was in the driveway of a property in Park Ballyfoyle at 21:00hrs.
Dean is described as 5ft 8in tall of slight build with green eyes and short brown hair. When he was last seen, he was wearing a black zipped tracksuit top, tracksuit bottoms and white trainers.
Note from the Roche family
“When Dean first went missing, the Garda didn’t take it seriously, with the consensus he would show up at some point. It took about 7 days before they released an appeal and a further two to three weeks before they deployed search teams. We did not receive regular updates, the only interaction being when we pushed for news.
We feel Garda could have done a lot more early on, but they simply had an attitude towards the family like this wasn’t any of our business. We also feel they could have done a lot more regarding searching and talking to people immediately after Dean disappeared. Errors are quite plentiful, a few of which are failure to locate and triangulate like Dean’s phone and not telling us his alleged last known movements for two years. Witness statements were not investigated thoroughly and there was no cross-examination of the last person alleged to have seen Dean, who changed their account several times. The mystery of the light coloured car purported to have been seen in the area that night has also never been resolved.
We are now getting regular updates, purely through our own persistence and social media appeals, coupled with a new team working on the case. Going forward, we would like to retain the existing relationship with the new Garda to improve and be able to work together to finally bring this to a close.
It has taken a horrendous toll on the whole family and Dean’s mam’s only wish before she took her last breath was that we do not give up on the search for her son. We feel that Dean doesn’t owe anybody anything anymore. He has paid the ultimate price with his life. Our ultimate wish is to lay Dean and his mother to rest together, to hopefully bring some closure to us as a family so we can start to heal.”
Garda are urging local farmers to check their farm houses, outbuildings and land to assist in the search for Dean. Anyone who has seen him or can help Garda with their enquiries is asked to contact Kilkenny Garda Station on 056 777 5000. Alternatively, if you wish to remain anonymous, please call the Garda Confidential Telephone Line on 1800 666 111.
UPDATE: It was announced yesterday that fresh searches have commenced to find Dean
National Missing Persons Helpline:
https://www.missingpersons.ie/kilkenny
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/findDeanRoche/
#FindDeanRoche #DamiensLaw