Family say thank you as month-long river search ends
LOUISE WALSH
The family of the missing Meath man who was found yesterday after a month long search, have expressed their relief that they now have closure.
Members of Meath River Rescue recovered the body of John Stokes from the Boyne, at Blackcastle, Navan last night.
The discovery ended a month-long search of the waters in difficult conditions for the 49-year old who went missing from his home in St Patrick's Park on November 19th.
During that time, over 30 members of John's family travelled from all over the country to help comb the riverbanks daily in the hope of finding their loved-one.
However searches will continue along the Boyne and Blackwater Rivers for a second missing Navan man, Derek Gallagher, who has been missing almost three weeks.
John's brother-in-law Gerry Mongan who travelled from Leitrim to help in the local effort has extended a huge thank you to everyone, on behalf of the Stokes family.
"We are so saddened but so relieved to have John back. We were clinging onto every hope of finding him as the days went on without success. Thankfully, we now have closure so that we can give him a proper burial and move on with our lives," he said.
"We would sincerely like to thank especially Christopher Rennicks and the Meath River Rescue for their endless efforts in searching for, and eventually recovering John.
"We would also like to thank the Meath Civil Defence, the Boyne Fishermen, the Army and the Garda Water Unit who also helped co-ordinate the search. "Many thanks too, to local gardai, Sgt Charlie McNulty, Garda Frank Scully and Garda Tony Brady for all their help to our family.
"Our family and friends have been fantastic as have the general public of Navan in their endless messages of support and well-wishes.
"Finally, we say thank you to Parish Priest Fr Robert McCabe for keeping us going with his prayers."
The Stokes family have also offered their help to the family of the second missing man Derek Gallagher as the search continues to bring him home.
"We have closure now and we pray to God that the Gallagher's will find Derek very soon too. Our family would like to offer any help and support we can in the ongoing effort to find him."
John's funeral details have yet to be finalised, following a post-mortem.
Christopher Rennicks of Meath River Rescue, who recovered the body passed on his condolences to the family.
"It was the outcome we all wanted in finding him and knew it was coming down the line eventually. It was a cross-group effort. Everyone pitched in to find him, including all the other agencies and voluntary groups.
"It's brought closure to the family but we will continue the search now for Derek up to and including Christmas to bring him home."