Roscommon Civil Defence – Search & Recovery Operation

14 November 2022

On Wednesday morning 9^th November Roscommon Civil Defence was activate by An Garda Síochána to assist in a search for a missing person in the Castlerea area. A team comprising of Roscommon Civil Defence field, boat and drone teams (19 team members on scene and a further 6 available later in the day) were deployed. Field search teams conducted an initial hasty search of the last known point, and the drone was deployed to search some of the deep bogholes. The search management team created an incident on the SARMAN software system and prioritised areas for detailed search.  An Garda Síochána organised Air Support and a Dog Unit was on route to assist in the search. A member of the public located the body of the missing person in the early afternoon.  Roscommon Civil Defence’s Search Manager notified An Garda Síochána. Following authorisation from An Garda Síochána, Roscommon Civil Defence Search Team recovered the deceased’s body. The recovery was a difficult task, particularly as access/egress from the watercourse was challenging. Subsequently, the deceased was transported by the Civil Defence All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) in a private and dignified manner.

Roscommon Civil Defence utilised their MX Map and SARMAN Search Management Software to determine statistical search radii forming concentric circles of probabilities ranging from 40 to 90% based on ‘iFIND’, this is an evidence informed product providing statistical analyses of location information for different categories of missing persons.

There was fantastic co-operation during the course of the search between all the agencies and the local community.

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