Dumped shopping trolleys hindering search for missing teen

Louise Walsh

A voluntary rescue group claims discarded shopping trolleys and other items dumped in the River Boyne have hindered their ongoing search for a 14-year-old missing teenager.

Members of the Meath River Rescue have been searching large swathes of the river for two weeks in efforts to find Benjamin Spot, who went missing from Navan on November 19th.

A separate search conducted by the group for three weeks concluded last week with the recovery of the remains of Jordan Newman.

This year, Meath River Rescue, which was established in 1996, recovered the remains of five people in the county and in Cavan and have helped out on numerous other searches elsewhere in the country.

However, chairperson Christopher Rennicks says that large items dumped in the river were slowing searches down as well as jeopardising the safety of volunteers.

When conditions are too dangerous for diving, the group conducts boat searches and uses 'drags' along the riverbed to try and find the remains of missing people.

The drags are typically hooked devices or weighted lines pulled along the riverbed to snag clothes but unfortunately catch other items as well.

"In the searches for Jordan and Benjamin alone, we pulled out about 20 shopping trolleys along a 2km stretch of the Boyne from Navan to Athlumney," he said.

"We have also discovered many bikes, wheelbarrows and other items which have been thrown in over the years. When the drag snags on something, we have to investigate what it is, pull it out of the water and then bring it onto the shore to ensure no-one throws it back in again.

"This all takes time and especially on winter days when we don't have a lot of daylight hours, these things can hinder and slow the search down."

Mr Rennicks said that on a past search for a missing person in Navan, they found a sizeable cage which posed a safety threat to divers.

"Divers could get caught up in this stuff so we have to assess all this and decide if it is safe to dive. We all have families to go home to as well.

"A lot of this stuff has been on the riverbed for years ,but I'd just like to appeal to people to think before dumping anything in the river - one day, you might need us to help search for a loved one."

The voluntary group largely rely on public donations to continue their work and donations can be made through a link on its Facebook Page.

Anyone with any information on Benjamin Spot can contact Navan Garda Station on 046 9036100 or the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111.