Tosh Lavery, a former member of the Garda Sub-Aqua Unit, spent over three decades confronting some of Ireland’s most harrowing tragedies, from the Whiddy Island disaster and the assassination of Lord Mountbatten to the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin. Known for his gravelly voice and sparkling blue eyes, Tosh was a fearless maverick who found his calling in the darkest of waters—recovering bodies, bringing closure to grieving families, and tirelessly pursuing justice in missing persons cases. His career, though marked by heroism and dedication, took a heavy personal toll, contributing to a long battle with alcoholism and the breakdown of his marriage. Despite the trauma, Tosh found a way forward and has been sober for nearly three decades, channelling his energy into advocacy work for families of the missing. Born and raised in Waterford, Tosh’s childhood was grounded in community and modest means, shaped by a strong work ethic inherited from his parents. Joining the Gardaí at jus...

On a cold December evening in 1992, the peaceful and affluent suburb of Malahide, North Dublin, was shattered by a brutal and baffling crime. Grace Livingstone, a 56-year-old wife, mother, and respected member of the local community, was executed in her own bedroom with a single shotgun blast to the back of the head. Her killer vanished without a trace. Despite early suspicions pointing to her husband, a high-ranking tax investigator who owned the very weapon that was used, no one was ever charged. No motive was ever confirmed. More than thirty years later, the murder of Grace Livingstone remains one of Ireland’s most unsettling and high-profile unsolved cases—an enduring cold case marked by missteps, suspicion, and controversy. What follows is the Radio Espial TIMELINE—a gripping, detailed reconstruction of a murder that stunned a nation. This is not just a cold case... it's a story of how truth and a murderer can vanish in plain sight.  

Three Irish men have mysteriously vanished in the Netherlands under odd circumstances. Andrew Furey, visiting Amsterdam in April 2022, disappeared after a night out in the Rembrandtplein area, never returning to his accommodation. In November 2009, Noel Gill, a construction worker in Rotterdam, was last seen crossing the Erasmus Bridge after watching a football match with friends. Paul Nolan Miralles, a long-time resident and artist in Amsterdam, vanished in April 2011 after leaving work to cycle home. In this episode of MISSING IN THE NETHERLADS, we examine the three cases and their eventual solved outcomes.  

In October 2008, 24-year-old James Patrick Grealis vanished without a trace from Breda, Netherlands, leaving behind only questions and heartbreak. The Irish carpenter had moved across Europe chasing work opportunities, but on October 23rd, he simply disappeared. With no confirmed sightings, no known enemies, and no explanation, his case remains a haunting mystery—closed by authorities but never forgotten. Did he meet with foul play, vanish voluntarily, or is there a missing clue waiting to be uncovered? Seventeen years later, James’ family still seeks answers. Join us as we explore the strange and unsolved disappearance of James Patrick Grealis.  

On the 23rd of February 2011, 38-year-old Esra Uyrun leaves her home alone in Clondalkin, Dublin, Ireland in the small family car. It’s around 7.15 to 7.20 am. She has told her husband Ozgur that she is just popping out briefly to pick up milk and some bits and pieces for the day at the local early-opening shop in nearby Neilstown. She never returns. Her car is found in Bray very later that evening. 14 years later, her family still ask where is Esra and what happened to her? In this Radio Espial episode, we are joined by Berna Fiden for an interview on her sister's case. Later in the episode, we will discuss the current case status and updates.

Elizabeth Clarke was officially reported missing in January 2015, though there have been no confirmed sightings of her since November 2013 (witness statements). Gardaí suspect she was murdered around the time of the last confirmed sighting. She reportedly left the home of her ex-boyfriend at Claremont Estate, Navan, Co. Meath on a November evening in 2013 around 7 pm in the company of two other women. The circumstances of this departure have never been fully made public. What is known is that Elizabeth (Lizzy) had been estranged from her family for quite some time before, had two young children with her boyfriend Kevin Stanley, and her natural family only became aware of her true disappearance in 2013 following the death of her grandfather and repeated efforts to contact and alert her of his death failed. She only became a formal missing person case in January 2015. This timeline is about filling in some of those disturbing gaps. In February 2025, her case was upgraded to murder follo...

Jimmy O'Neill, aged 16, disappeared from Waterford City on December 15th 1947, just over 77 years ago.  His case remains the oldest active missing person case in Ireland. He worked for a shipping company in the local Waterford City area. If Jimmy O’Neill is still alive, he would recently have celebrated his 93rd birthday. However, his family have strong reasons (beyond just the passing of time) to believe that he is no longer alive and in March 2023 decided to add his name to the family's headstone in Ballygunner, Co. Waterford. His case is also the oldest Radio Espial has ever investigated and we are grateful for the information provided by Jimmy’s remaining family members.  

Missing Persons Day, hosted by the Irish Department of Justice, is an annual commemorative day for families and friends to remember their missing loved ones. Missing Persons Day also provides a nationwide platform to appeal to the public for information on missing persons. Radio Espial's Brian Goggin reports on his experience of this year's event at Croke Park, Dublin.    

Conor and Sheila Dwyer, from Fermoy, Cork, Ireland, aged 62 and 60 respectively, were last seen and heard from between April 30th and May 1st, 1991. On May 22nd of 1991, they were reported missing when two family members along with gardai entered their Chapel Hill house only to find it empty and undisturbed. No trace of the couple has ever been found over the past 33 years. This is the story and timeline of their disappearance.  

Six-year-old Irish boy Kyran Durnin rose to national and international attention in August 2024 when he and his mother Dayla were both reported formally missing by a concerned family member. In reality, Kyran had been missing for almost two years when his mother left a note with family that she was leaving to take time out and get herself sorted. By September 2024 a slow and complex unravelling of a double missing persons case became public knowledge with widespread national appeals in Ireland. Irish police finally tracked Kyran’s mother down in the UK. During interviews, she could provide no information whatsoever to the whereabouts of her (then) eight-year-old son (if still alive). The investigation team quickly became suspicious and upgraded the missing case of Kyran Durnin to murder.  

Mark Duffy, aged 43, went missing from his home in Navan, County Meath, Ireland on October 3rd, 2022. That morning, he left his home to collect a social welfare payment at a local post office in the Johnstown Shopping Centre. He was picked up on CCTV footage shortly before 11 am at the post office and later that day at a Centra supermarket on the Commons Road just before 3 pm and appeared to be crossing a road and heading back in the direction of Parnell Park where he lived. Mark never arrived back home that day. He was due to start a new job as a construction site foreman. He was formally reported missing without contact with his family on the 13th of October, 2022. What really happened Mark Duffy that October day?  

In June 1973, seven-year-old schoolboy John Joseph Horgan from Palmerstown, Dublin was bludgeoned with a wooden club in a field close to his home while his mother was out visiting her next-door neighbour in hospital. She had entrusted the neighbour’s grandmother to watch over her son until she returned home. This is one of the most complex and disturbing murder cases we have ever covered. A case Irish authorities chose at the time to shove into what we refer to as Ireland's Pandora's Box.  

Imelda Keenan, 22, of Mountmellick, County Laois, was living in Waterford City, Ireland when she was reported missing on January 3rd, 1994. She was living in a rented flat in Waterford town on William Street. Imelda Keenan’s fiancé, who would regularly stay at the flat, would later state to gardai that she told him she was going to the post office to pick up her unemployment benefit and some cat litter at a shop around 1:30 pm. Her brother Ned would formally report her missing that evening. However, in reality, no substantive and confirmed evidence ever emerged of Imelda for the two weeks prior to January 3rd and the previous Christmas period of 1993. This is a case with a multitude of different questions and anomalies that soon arose for Imelda’s family and gardai investigating her missing person case. 30 years on, we still don’t have many of those answers.  

On the 2nd of March 1999, a car pulls up on Nassau Street in Dublin, Ireland late at night. 24-year-old Layla Brennan from Clondalkin is walking on the street. The driver is ‘looking for directions’ but this hides his real predatory intentions. Three days later, Layla’s body is found dumped in Killakee Forest in the Dublin Mountains. This is the case of Layla Brennan and what happened to her. The subject matter will not be easy. Who was Layla Brennan and what happened to her?  

Larry Murphy is an Irish convicted criminal and predator of women. After his conviction for kidnapping, repeatedly raping, and attempting the murder of a young Carlow businesswoman on 11th February 2000, in the Wicklow Mountains, he was jailed in January 2001 for 15 years with a third of his sentence suspended or later reduced in prison. His release from Arbour Hill prison less than 10 years later drew widespread public and media criticism. His name has been erroneously and consistently connected to multiple cases in Ireland’s Vanishing Triangle—a series of missing and murdered women in the Leinster region throughout the 1990s. He is most often associated with the disappearance of Irish woman Deirdre Jacob close to her home in Newbridge, County Kildare in 1998. A file for prosecution was submitted to the Irish DPP but was later rejected on the grounds of insufficient evidence. To date (2024), Larry Murphy has only ever been charged, tried and convicted of offences in relation to his 2...

In this final episode in our Missing & Murdered series, we examine The Forgotten Cases (Part 3). The episode follows on from the first two parts - six much lower profile unsolved cases of missing women, some presumed and some confirmed murdered. These cases are often considered on the periphery of the mythical Irish Vanishing Triangle and have sadly been neglected by the media, authorities and others in recent years and we should be honouring their memories and showing them the proper respect and support that they deserve.  

For the past three decades, through news media articles in print, TV and radio shows, podcasts, documentaries and dramas, we have been sold an unproven illusion, that one or more serial killers were rampant in Ireland during the late 80s and 90s. And one devious suspect was responsible for multiple such cases of missing person cases and the deposition of bodies found in the vicinity of the Dublin and Wicklow mountains and the man who may have been responsible for many of those cases is Larry Murphy. It’s time we addressed the core media myth of Ireland’s Vanishing Triangle and its real origins. Here is your first clue. No Irish police investigation ever mentioned the phrase ‘Vanishing Triangle’. Operation Trace was not set up with the specific intention of finding Ireland’s Serial Killer. In episode 51 of Radio Espial - Missing & Murdered: Ireland’s Vanishing Triangle - Misinformation, Brian Goggin explored the origins of media misinformation across a number of cases. In this epis...

This episode is the first in a series about Ireland's so-called Vanishing Triangle of missing women. This part specifically deals with the media and reported misinformation on the cases and provides an introduction into the following parts of the Radio Espial mini-series. Misinformation, be it mainstream media, social media or simple casual talk among friends, can be very damaging to missing persons cases, particularly to the victims’ families who graft interminably on the behalf of their loved ones. It can stall investigations, inhibit those who may have information coming forward, reduce interest both in the cases and the victims, and worse, create confusion and needless speculation when a lack of information creates a vacuum. Someone out there will always be only willing to fill that vacuum, even when they have limited facts and have their own editorial agenda for grabbing headlines and delivering opinions based on nothing.  

Since we recorded our original Timeline on the Marie Kilmartin case, we have been in contact with her daughter Áine once again and would like to bring you the following update that sheds a great deal more background on the case. However, we felt the information provided stretched far beyond just a short few minutes of update. So much, that we have decided on an unplanned Radio Espial Episode 50. I want to state that what follows is not one of our normal case Timelines and Analysis. It is testimony and an account of the tireless work and research Áine has carried out into her mother’s initial disappearance in 1993, the later discover of her body at Pim’s Lane, a bogland, six months later. Marie Kilmartin’s case is classified as a murder case by An Garda Siochana and included a series of arrests between 1994 and 2008. No one has yet been charged with her murder as of 2024. Following our broadcast of the Marie Kilmartin Case Timeline, Áine, her daughter posted a very lengthy comment on th...

Marie Kilmartin, 35, of Beladd, County Laois, Ireland attended work at a local day-care nursing home (Portlaoise Area Social Services – P.A.S.S.) at 11 am on 16th December 1993. At 3.45 pm, two of Marie's female co-workers dropped her home and watched her walk to her front door. When Marie's housemate arrived home from her job at 6 pm, she found that Marie was not there and none of the lights in their house had been switched on. The housemate also found the house alarm was set and Marie's groceries were still unpacked hanging on a kitchen chair. A later forensic examination of Marie's home uncovered no evidence of a break-in, nor what may have led to her sudden disappearance. Gardaí did discover that around 4:20 pm on the same day, 16th December, a phone call was made to Marie's landline phone which lasted for two and a half minutes. The call was traced to a payphone in Portlaoise near St. Fintan's Hospital. A witness would later come forward stating that she sa...