Open verdict in case of missing German man

A German man who came to Ireland to start a new life died less than a month after arriving here. He lay under a tree in a wood for a year before his body was found by hunters.

However, the discovery of the body, near Lough Inagh in Connemara, was only the start of the mystery and another eight years passed before he was finally identified.

An inquest in Clifden, Co Galway, was told yesterday that Arno Schmitz from the Neumünster area of Germany had come to Ireland in 2005 to start a new life, but died about a month later.

He was 55 at the time and decided to move after a relationship with a Russian woman broke down. He had some contacts in Ireland and planned on working here.

Bernd Schmitz-Cramm said that the last time he saw his only brother was in November 2005 when he left Germany. “He would contact me about every two days. It was coming up to Christmas 2005, the last time I last spoke to Arno,” he said.

Galway West coroner Dr Ciaran McLoughlin was told that a year later a party of six hunters was returning to the Lough Inagh Lodge in Connemara when they found a body in a wood near the lake.

Foul play ruled out

There was no evidence of injury or trauma on the body and Dr McLoughlin was told that there was nothing to suggest the deceased man had met with foul play.

A cleaning cloth for sunglasses proved to be the key to establish his identity.

Insp Seán Glynn said the breakthrough in the case came after another review. It was decided to circulate a facial reconstruction in the Neumünster area where the cleaning cloth was traced to.

The image was carried in newspapers there and he was identified by his brother in July. A jury of eight people returned an open verdict.