This article is from page 8 of the 2013-06-04 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 8 JPG
HOPES are high that a breakthrough could soon be on the way in one of Clare’s longest running unsolved murders. Ennistymon woman Emer O’Loughlin lost her life in a mobile home in Tubber in April 8, 2005.
A number of attempts have been made over the years to track down the chief suspect, John Griffin, with Interpol releasing a photograph and a description for John Griffin in early 2011.
Despite a number of leads and suspected sightings of Mr Griffin in Europe, the official search has gone cold in recent years. This has prompted the family of Emer O’Loughlin to launch a new online campaign which they hope could uncover information about the tragic killing.
A new group entitled ‘Justice for Emer O’Loughlin’ was set up on Facebook last week and has already received almost 600 followers.
The reward poster for Mr Griffin, which was shared on the site, has been viewed by more than 15,000 people in the last seven days – with residents living in mainland Europe asked to be particularly vigilant.
It has also been confirmed that the case of Emer O’Loughlin will feature in the first episode of a new RTÉ series entitled “Cracking Crime” later this summer.
The first episode, which will be broadcast on RTÉ 1 on Tuesday, July 23, will include interviews conducted with the O’Loughlin family at the eight anniversary of Emer’s death this April.
Emer was killed on April 8, 2003. She was studying art in Galway at the time and would have been in college that day had it not been for funeral of Pope John Paul II.
Her body was found in the burnedout neighbouring mobile home and was only identified following DNA testing.
The chief suspect in the case, John Griffin, was tracked to the Aran Island where Gardaí believe he tried to fake his own suicide before he fled the country.
For more on the new group visit www.facebook.com/JusticeForEmer.