FINDING IRELAND'S MADDIE MCCANN SHE VANISHED WITHOUT A TRACE

Mystery and heartache still surrounds Ireland’s youngest and longest missing child case more than 40 years on

The disappearance of six-year-old Mary Boyle, dubbed Ireland’s Madeleine McCann, from her grandparents’ remote dairy farm in County Donegal continues to baffle experts almost 43 years on.

The Boyle family were enjoying their annual trip to their elderly relatives’ farm in Cashelard for the St Patrick’s Day holiday when Mary vanished on March 18, 1977.

Despite multiple searches and extraordinary theories that have emerged about what might have happened to Mary – Ireland’s youngest and longest missing person case – her body has never been found and the investigation remains open.

Mary was playing outside with her identical twin sister Ann, older brother Paddy and two cousins after lunch when she followed her uncle Gerry as he set off across the boggy fields to return a ladder he’d borrowed from a neighbouring farm.

At some point on the way to the neighbour’s house, Gerry told Mary to turn around and go back. The walk shouldn’t have taken more than five minutes, but sadly the youngster was never seen again.

Mary’s mother Ann Boyle recalls she was washing the dishes inside the house around 3.30pm when her father asked her to check on the children.