The last person to report seeing Donegal child Mary Boyle who went missing in 1977 has died

Mary was six years old when she arrived at St.

She and her family, including her twin sister Ann, visited her grandparents from their Burtonport home.

Her disappearance has haunted those who knew and loved her every day since.

Mary’s uncle Gerry Gallagher died on Wednesday after a short illness.

On the day of her disappearance, Mary, dressed in trousers and a cardigan, her long hair tied back with a ribbon, followed her uncle Gerry across the moorland between her grandparents’ home and their nearest neighbors, the Cawleys.

Mr Gallagher, who had been working on the roof, went to Cawleys to return a ladder.

It was a distance of about 400 meters.

At about 3:45 p.m., Mary walked behind her uncle to the Cawleys’ house, and when she reached a patch of water he told her to turn back.

She was last seen by her uncle eating a packet of Tayto chips, sources said.

The walk back to her grandparents’ farmhouse shouldn’t have taken more than five minutes.

Meanwhile, Mr Gallagher chatted briefly with the Cawleys and returned to the house at 4:30pm.

At this point Mary was missing.

Gardaí, his family and scores of neighbors combed the 450-metre stretch of land between the only two houses in the area in a search that escalated over the following weeks into a network of bog holes, lakes, streams and the countryside beyond.

No trace of Mary was ever found.

The entire lake in Upper Cashelard behind her grandparents’ house has been drained. A trench was dug with a mechanical excavator. The search in the bog turned up nothing.

But Mrs. O’Donnell believes Mary is still lying alone on the mountainside.

“I don’t want anyone to have to serve a day for Mary’s disappearance or her death.

“But I just want her to have a decent burial and a proper resting place instead of lying up there somewhere in the mountain.

“I don’t think she ever left Cashelard,” Ms O’Donnell said.

Ms O’Donnell told the Irish Independent that even now, almost 46 years later, Mary is never too far from her thoughts.

The news that Mary’s uncle, Mr. Gallagher, had died brought the painful memories back into focus.

“I got word from Mary’s twin that he passed away. It is sad. It just brings everything back.

“It was a terrible, terrible story. I knew Mary Boyle; I had the privilege of knowing her. She was a beautiful, pretty little girl.

“I think someone out there still knows what happened to Mary.

“And I would ask anyone with information to know that it’s never too late. If only we could find Mary’s body and give her a Christian burial with her father.

“My mother and Mary’s grandmother were related, they came from the same island.
“And I’ve known her father Charlie my whole life.

“It’s very sad and I would love it very much if anyone knew anything, please tell.”

In 2016, Gardaí announced a new investigation into Mary’s disappearance, which would re-examine all evidence and suspects.

Gardai said the new cold cases team will have no preconceived notions about who is or is not a suspect and that all evidence will be followed.

Mary, the longest missing child in modern Ireland, would be 52 if she were alive today.

Ann and Mary’s mother, also known as Ann, said in a previous interview that she hopes her daughter is found before she dies.

“I still see her as the special little girl I remember, but I also wonder how she would be now and where in her life she would be.

“My husband Charlie died 15 years ago without knowing where Mary is.

“Her disappearance has taken a toll on his health and on all of us.

“And I still hope she is found before I die.”