Gardaí have said the investigation into the death of Kelly Lynch remains open and is being run by a team based at Monaghan Garda Station, as her mother renews a public appeal for anyone with information to come forward.
The 23-year-old, originally from Lisnaskea in Co Fermanagh, was found in the Ulster Canal in Monaghan town on St Patrick's Day 2024. She had been in the town for a wake and had been socialising with others the night before, the Anglo-Celt reported on Thursday.
The family's appeal
Her mother, Julieanne Lynch, who runs the Justice for Kelly Lynch Facebook page, issued the fresh appeal after the family received reports that a person had allegedly said, at a house party in Monaghan, that they were present when Kelly died. Belfast Live reported earlier this month that the campaign has not named anyone and has stressed that the alleged remark has not been established as fact.
The campaign is asking people who were there to report what they personally heard, rather than trying to judge for themselves whether it was true. "If what was said was nonsense, reporting it allows it to be examined as such," Ms Lynch wrote. "If it was bravado, let investigators establish that."
What gardaí said
Asked by the Anglo-Celt whether there had been any recent developments, gardaí would not say whether they had received new information. "An Garda Síochána does not comment on unsubstantiated third-party remarks," a statement said. "The investigation into the death of Ms Kelly Lynch remains open and continues to be carried out by an investigation team based at Monaghan Garda Station."
The statement added that a number of observations made by a Garda peer review team are already the subject of an examination by Fiosrú, the Office of the Police Ombudsman, but that those matters "do not concern the cause of death or suggest that the outcome was altered". Gardaí again appealed to anyone with "direct information" to contact them.
Differing medical findings
The case has been marked by conflicting conclusions about how Kelly died. An initial post-mortem found she died from drowning, and a second report pointed to hypothermia. A privately funded forensic report arranged this year through the Katie Trust found she died after a violent physical assault and recorded 93 injuries. According to Belfast Live, a subsequent State pathologist report upheld drowning as the cause of death, found no evidence of a physical assault, and said the injuries were consistent with a fall from height.
In October 2024, then Garda Commissioner Drew Harris directed a senior investigating officer from outside the Cavan-Monaghan-Louth Division to carry out a peer review of the original investigation. Belfast Live reported that the family was told in July that the review contained more than 20 recommendations, one of which was that a file be prepared for the Coroner. Kelly's family want a formal murder investigation.
Anyone with direct information is asked to contact the investigation team at Monaghan Garda Station.