A wealthy Irish property developer who was missing for eight months
has finally been found wandering emaciated and dishevelled on a lonely
country road.
The man, who was identified as Kevin McGeever, 68, had a lengthy
beard, long fingernails and an insulting word carved into his
forehead. He had also experienced dramatic weight loss. A woman who
encountered him said: "We were told he used to be 16 and a half stone
– he was just skin and bones now."
Mr McGeever, went missing in June last year from his home in Galway.
Previously he had enjoyed a conspicuously wealthy lifestyle, living
in a sprawling mansion worth an estimated €3m (£2.5m) and travelling
by helicopter and luxury cars, which include a Porsche and two
Hummers.
Mr McGeever has a development company, KMM Commercial Properties,
dealing mainly with properties in Dubai. He has reportedly told
police that he had been kidnapped and that a ransom was demanded for
his release, but that he did not know whether one had been paid. He
was initially reported missing by his partner, Siobhan O'Callaghan.
He was found wandering on a road in Co Leitrim, around 10 miles from
the border with Northern Ireland, on Tuesday night.
He was finally discovered, barefoot, by Catherine Vallely, 64, who
said: "There was this person in the middle of the road who had a
flashing light. He had red trousers that made me think it was a cone,
at first, in the middle of the road. He said three men threw him out
of a van."
She added: "He had a pair of enormous eyes in a very thin face and his
cheekbones stuck out. He was rubbing his beard with fingers that had
long nails. He was very well-educated, well-spoken, and polite and
articulate."
Mr McGeever was driven to Ballinamore police station in Co Leitrim
where, saying he was starving, he was given tea, biscuits and curried
chips while his details were checked.
When found he had a mobile phone and a torch, and was carrying a back
bin-bag. He reportedly did not know which county he was in, or the
time, date or month. A word had been carved on his forehead with a
knife. He was taken to hospital in the town of Mullingar for treatment
for malnutrition and dehydration.
A local councillor who spoke to witnesses said: "He was absolutely
ravenous. He was extremely thin and not in great shape at all. He
didn't know where he was and had to betold he was in Leitrim.
"He told them he had been dropped off by a number of men in a van and
he had been in the van for some time. So it certainly appearsthat he
was being held against his will, and that is what he indicated. Where
he has been for the past months is anyone's guess, but it must be a
great relief for his family."
Kidnappings for ransom are not unknown inIreland, though the idea of
someone being held captive for so long is highly unusual. In the past
kidnappings were occasionally carried out by the IRA.
In 1983 a supermarket executive, Don Tidey, was abducted and held,
probably coincidentally, in the Ballinamore area while a ransom was
demanded. Although he was found by search teams, a soldier and a
policeofficer died in a shoot-out with the IRA as hewas rescued from
his ordeal.
While the idea of mainstream republican involvement in the McGeever
case is not taken seriously, it is possible that republican dissidents
might be involved. In some border areas dissidents and criminal gangs
are both engaged in lucrative activities such as cigarette smuggling
and fuel-laundering.
