Inquest Sought 29 Years After Woman Goes Missing

The family of a woman who went missing almost 30 years ago and is presumed dead are pressing for an inquest, it emerged today.

Mother-of-seven Alice Clifford disappeared from St Loman's Hospital, Palmerstown, west Dublin in 1979.

Alice was last seen at the hospital on the evening of November 28 wearing just a cardigan and house slippers before seemingly vanishing without a trace.

Her week-long stay at the hospital was intended to give her family a short break from the demanding care she required.

The 57-year-old has never been found and her family are now requesting a fresh investigation into her disappearance.

Her daughter, Patricia O'Reilly has revealed that the Garda Cold Case Unit is re-examining the case.

She said: "We would like more answers now, because we know there is more that can be done. Maybe back in the day the police didn't know what to do.

"We were a very naïve family, we would have just assumed the gardaí­ do what they do and we left it in their hands. We were waiting for them to get back to us.

Mrs O'Reilly, who was 18-years-old at the time, said the gardaí called at her home to ask the family if they had seen Mrs Clifford when the family were waiting on answers from them.

She said: "The family got together and went themselves out looking for her. We stopped a few policemen along the way, asked them had they seen her and they didn't even know what we were talking about."

Mrs O'Reilly said she wasn't aware of any investigation by the health authorities but recalled that John, Alice's husband got around IR£1,200 off the hospital so that he wouldn't take any further proceedings. She said that because money was so tight at the time, he took the offer.

The family believed Mrs Clifford could have fallen into the nearby River Liffey or into building works going at the time in the grounds of the hospital but have not ruled out something more sinister.

(VB)