Gardaí have confirmed to Beat News that the body that was removed from the River Barrow today has been identified as John Coakley.
"Following the discovery of a body of a male on Monday 5th June 2023 in County Carlow, the missing person appeal for John Coakley has been stood down. An Garda Síochána would like to thank the media and the public for their assistance," its Press Office said.
The search for John had been paused earlier, following the discovery of the body.
Gardaí had been waiting for the identification and postmortem result of the remains found in Leighlinbridge.
John had been missing from his home since April 15th.
Appealing for information back in April, John's father said: “I am at my wits’ end. I get some sort of strength from finding out a little thing, but then it comes crashing down. It’s tearing me apart. I was due to retire in a month and looking forward to it. I don’t care about it; I just want him to be found, to be safe.”
John had suffered from anxiety and turned up at his father’s home at Kevin Barry Avenue at around 1.50 am on the morning he went missing. John Snr was asleep, but his stepmother Clare spoke to John. He was in an anxious state and believed someone was following him. Clare attempted to calm him before John left, heading towards Carlow town.
He was last seen on Kennedy Avenue in the vicinity of the bus park. Much to John Snr’s frustration, there is no CCTV covering the bus park.
“I cannot move on until I find out where he went from there. Did he get on a bus? I would be a happy man if he did.
“There is no need to worry about John, he would not hurt a fly,” he said at the time.
According to RIP.ie, John's funeral arrangements will be announced at a alter date.
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