This article is from page 18 of the 2006-04-11 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 18 JPG
THE search for a man who went missing from his home close to Gort last week intensified yesterday, when the Garda Water Unit began searching a river in the town.
Ernie Cooke (51), walked out of his family home near Kilcolgan during his breakfast last Tuesday morning. His distraught wife Mary and two young daughters have not heard from him since, while gardaí say his bank account has not been touched in the interim.
Ernie’s wife Mary told The Clare People that her two daughters – aged seven and nine – just want to see him return home.
“They just want their daddy found. They ask ‘Is daddy home yet?’” she said.
“We are extremely worried, but have to keep channelled on finding Ernie. He is normally very conscientious and this was totally out of the blue. He upped and left during breakfast. It was in the middle of breakfast. He had put the milk in his cup, he has a habit of putting the milk in the cup first,” she said.
Ernie has suffered from depression since November.
“For some reason he got this notion to go. When I realised he was gone, I followed him, but I lost three or four valuable minutes,” she said.
Mary pursued her husband, in a car, but could not find him.
She remains optimistic that he will come home.
“He is probably just wandering around. He may be just confused. We are appealing to Ernie to come home,” she said.
There have been numerous reported sightings of Ernie, originally from Donegal, over the past week. However gardaí say many of those reports are adding to confusion.
Extensive searches have taken place over the past week in parts of Galway, Clare and Limerick, on the foot of reported sightings. Several of Ernie’s work colleagues from Crown in Galway, travelled to Ennis last week, in the hope of locating him.
Initial reports suggested he travelled, via bus, from Gort to Barefield on Tuesday. He was also reportedly seen at Ennis General Hospital and in parts of Limerick and Dublin.
“The search is now being refocused, after a week of pursuing reported sightings,” said Gort Superintendent Paul Mockler, who is leading the investigation into his disappearance.
“All of the reported sightings have been looked into, without any success. There have been conflicting reports. He can’t be in all places at one time,” he said.
It’s understood that a relative of the missing man received a telephone call from a woman claiming to be a nurse, who said he had been checked into hospital in Ennis. However, despite intensive efforts, gardaí could not locate him there.