Female body found on beach may be identified next week

THE BODY of the woman discovered on a beach on the Mull of Kintyre on the west coast of Scotland on Thursday is not likely to…

THE BODY of the woman discovered on a beach on the Mull of Kintyre on the west coast of Scotland on Thursday is not likely to be identified until some time next week, according to Strathclyde police.

The family of Karen Coyles, who has been missing since last Sunday week, is being kept informed as efforts are made to identify the remains. Strathclyde police said a postmortem was not expected until next Friday. It could take until the middle of next week before the body is formally identified.

Despite extensive searches of the Ballycastle area in north Antrim, there has been no sign of the missing 47-year-old woman. Friends described the disappearance as “totally out of character”.

Ms Coyles, who is single, went missing after returning from Dublin, where as goalkeeper she captained the local McQuillan camogie team to win the All-Ireland camogie sevens tournament.

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The alarm was raised last Monday week when she failed to turn up for work at the research institute at University of Ulster’s Coleraine campus. Her car was found outside the McQuillan GAA club in the town.

Searches of the Ballycastle area were carried out by police officers, sniffer dogs, a helicopter and the local community. The coastline was also searched.

Gerry Moriarty

Gerry Moriarty

Gerry Moriarty is the former Northern editor of The Irish Times