Bring Dean home - Kilkenny family's plea for information

The family and friends of Dean Roche are appealing for information that might lead to the discovery of his remains and finally allow them to lay him to rest alongside his mother Geraldine, who died in 2018.

Dean Roche from Hebron Park in Kilkenny went missing on the night of March 22, 2015 when he went to the Ballyfoyle area to buy a car. A short time after purchasing the car it was found crashed down the road. Dean vanished that night, never to be seen again.

His brother, Eamon and friend, Damian Hipwell are calling on the garda investigation to be upgraded to murder and are appealing to anyone with information to come forward.

“We just want to bring Dean home, not knowing what happened to Dean broke my mother’s heart and her dying wish was to be laid to rest beside Dean. I have my Mum’s ashes and I am waiting for Dean to be brought home so finally we can bury them together. It would mean a lot to be able to bury Mum and Dean,” said Eamon.
Both men are adamant that Dean Roche never left the Ballyfoyle area and that someone in the area knows what happened to him.

“If someone did something to Dean I don’t think that they intended to do it on the morning of that day. I don’t think he made it out of there of his own accord,” said Damian.

“We are just pleading to anyone with information that we lead us to find Dean to come forward with that information. No one is looking for vengeance or retribution, we just want to get him home and lay him to rest with Geraldine. Not knowing where Dean is is heartbreaking and we are appealing to anyone with information to come forward.

“We have never found out what happened to Dean and for as long as that information is withheld then the pain and suffering will continue. Someone out there knows what happened to him and that would eat your conscience alive,” added Damian.

Councillor Joe Malone, who is a friend of the Roche family is also calling for the investigation to be upgraded to murder and is raising the case with both the Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee and the Garda Commissioner, Drew Harris.

“Dean’s tenth anniversary is next March and we need closure and justice for Dean Roche. His mother, Geraldine died not knowing what happened to Dean and I have been raising the case for years looking for answers. The not knowing what happened to Dean is torture for the Roche family and for Dean’s friends.

“Someone knows where Dean is and I am asking them to come forward so he can finally be laid to rest with his Mum, Geraldine. I am asking the people out in the area where Dean disappeared to come forward with any information they have, it is going on too long and it needs to end,” he added.

Eamonn remembers Dean as ‘the best brother anyone could have’.

“He was my older brother, I was the youngest of three boys and Dean looked after me. If I ever needed to talk to someone or wanted advise I would go to Dean,” he said.

Damian also has fond memories of his friend, Dean Roche.

“I met Dean as a teenager and we got on like a house on fire. He was one of the nicest people I ever met. He was very funny and charming and he was soft and gentle and kind. He was the best person for making you laugh,” said Damian who added that while Dean was known to gardaí and was a drug addict at the time he went missing he wanted ‘to straighten himself out’.

“He was in the throes of addiction and often got disheartened and would say that he wanted to straighten himself out.”

A garda spokesperson confirmed that an investigation into the disappearance of Dean Roche is ongoing and urged anyone with information to come forward.

“We are appealing to anyone who knows anything to come forward, even the smallest piece of information could prove crucial,” he said.

Anyone with information on Dean Roche is asked to contact Kilkenny gardaí on (056) 7775000 or the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 11.