Press Releases

The search for a person reported missing on the afternoon of Saturday 16th January 2021 was stood down on Saturday, 20th of February 2021, 5 weeks after the person was first reported missing.

Sean Spellman (54) from Taughmaconnell, Co. Roscommon was reported missing after he was last seen leaving his home at approximately 2:30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon. Sean was later seen on CCTV walking out of town in the direction of Grace Road.

The Garda Water Unit was initially deployed and began an extensive search of the river with Athlone Sub-Aqua Club joining the search on Wednesday the 27th of January at the request of the family and with the permission of An Garda Síochána. Search teams from Roscommon Civil Defense, Mayo Civil Defense, Shannonside Sub-Aqua Club and Longford Sub-Aqua Club joined the operation soon after.

Divers from the Garda Water Unit carried out a number of dives in the old canal adjacent to Talbot Avenue and other areas close to where the missing person was last seen with the other search teams focusing on surface scratches from the Dual Carriageway Bridge to the North of Athlone Town as far south as Shannonbridge. Poor weather conditions over the course of the search coupled with extensive flooding of the Shannon Callows south of Athlone and a water temperature of just 3.5 degrees added to the difficulty of the search as the volunteer crews also had to ensure social distancing was maintained onboard boats and at slipways.

On the morning of Saturday, 20th of February, 5 weeks after Mr Spellman had been reported missing, a boat unit from Roscommon Civil Defense launched at Shannonbridge and was conducting a search of the river between Clonmacnoise and Clonown. As weather conditions worsened just after midday the crew decided to return to Shannonbridge and recover the boat until the weather conditions improved. En route back to Shannonbridge, in an area known locally as the Three County Pile, where the borders of Westmeath, Offaly and Roscommon meet, the crew spotted what they believed may have been the body of a person in the water. The crew remained on scene until the Garda Water Unit arrived. The body was recovered from the water and taken back to Athlone Town. It was later confirmed that it was the body of the missing person, Mr Spellman.