The search for a Carlow man missing since April has been put on hold following the discovery of a body in the River Barrow on Monday.
John Coakley has been missing from his home in Carlow town since April 15, a disappearance which has prompted extensive searches in the county and beyond.
Gardai are awaiting the identification and postmortem result of the remains found in Leighlinbridge before resuming the search for John.
In a statement to Beat News, Gardaí said they continue to "investigate all the circumstances surrounding the recovery of a body from the water at Orchard, Leighlinstown, Co. Carlow, on June 5."
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.
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