Police continue search for body of Saintfield man

Police continue search for body of Saintfield man

19 June 2019

THE search for the body of missing Saintfield man Pat McCormick is continuing nearly three weeks after he was last seen in Comber. 

Police believe that the 55 year-old father-of-four was murdered some time on May 30.

Officers carried out searches yesterday in the Comber River near the leisure centre along with “significant searches” in the Ballygraffan Road area. An underwater search team also searched a lake just off the Lisbarnett Road.

In a direct appeal to those responsible for Mr McCormick’s disappearance, Detective Chief Inspector Pete Montgomery said: “I would also like to appeal to those directly responsible to come forward to police — examine your conscience and allow Pat’s family to give him a proper burial. You are denying them this right.”?“It is now almost three weeks’ from Pat’s disappearance and his family remain absolutely devastated. They deserve to know what has happened to him and deserve to have his body back.?“Members of the local community may have information that could be key to giving Pat’s family some answers. I would urge anyone who has any information surrounding Pat’s disappearance to contact detectives at the incident room at Musgrave Street on 101.”?Searches also took place at Castle Espie on the shores of Strangford Lough and in Lurgan over the weekend.

Police are being assisted by members of the Community Search and Rescue Team and by specialist victim recovery dogs.

Investigators have collected 96 hours of CCTV footage from 137 local premises and will be analysing them in the coming days.

Police are still interested in locating Mr McCormick's clothes, his iPhone SE and watch.

Householders in the Ballygowan and Belfast Road areas have been asked to supply any private CCTV footage from their properties from May 30/31.

Mr McCormick, who was named William but known as Pat, visited his elderly parents in Ballynahinch earlier that evening.

CCTV footage later showed him walking in Castle Street around 10.45pm.

He parked his black Citroen car opposite McBride’s pub.

Police are also interested in speaking to any motorist who may have dash cam footage of someone carrying something and walking through a small gate around the car park of Castle Street/High Street in Comber on Friday, May 31, from 7am.

Mr McCormick was originally from Saintfield but had been living in Newtownards with his family.

A former member of the Royal Irish Regiment, he was working as a caretaker with Strean Presbyterian Church in Newtownards before his disappearance.

Strangford MLA Peter Weir spoke of “the mental torture and anguish” that Mr McCormick’s family and friends are going through.

The DUP man said: “The anxiety about Mr McCormick’s initial absence will have given way to heartbreak at the prospect of his death. All of this has been exacerbated by the absence of any knowledge of where his remains are.

“This has meant for his family deep hurt as they are unable to obtain certainty of closure, be able to grieve properly and be able to give him a Christian burial.”

He continued: “While it is welcome that clearly some people have passed on to the PSNI anything suspicious they have seen or heard, there are others out there who know what happened to Mr McCormick and where his body is.

“I urge those people to give thought to the mental torture and anguish that his family and friends are going through and come forward with that information to the police without further delay."