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Army says Ciara took her own life
27.06.08
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THE family of slain
soldier Ciara Durkin including her Buncrana-based
sister Aine have appealed for privacy after the US
Army concluded she took her own life. The Durkin
family recently received the Army's final report
into her death in Afghanistan last September. |
They posted the
following statement on their website dedicated to
Ciara: "We are very upset and saddened by their (US
Army's) conclusion. We have borne an extraordinary
amount of pain over the past nine months, compounded
by a protracted and at times ambiguous
investigation. We now need time and privacy to
grieve, and let our Ciara finally rest in peace. Ar
dheis Dé go raibh a hanam."
The translation of the Irish is: “May her noble soul
be at the right hand |
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of God.”
Durkin had a desk job doing payroll in an office
about three miles inside the secure Bagram Air Base.
About 90 minutes after she left work on September
28, 2007, her family says she was found dead near a
chapel on the base with a single gunshot wound to
the head.
Buncrana was deeply saddened by the death as the
30-year old soldier had spent many summers as a
teenager in the seaside town with her older sister
and had worked in a number of places including
McGinley's post office.
USA Criminal Investigation Command have now declared
the investigation into her death closed with the
cause ruled as “self-inflicted.”
They say their conclusion was founded on all the
available evidence including witness statements,
evidence at the scene, phone records, a
psychological review and the finding of suicide by
the Army's medical examiner.
Other members of Durkin's family who live in Quincy,
Massachusetts, previously said that during her last
visit home earlier in September 2007, Ciara talked
about “making enemies” because of things she learned
working in the finance unit of the base. The Durkins
had discounted the suicide theory saying Ciara, whom
they affectionately knew as 'Ciara Weera Brat' had
plans for the future and appeared happy during her
last visit home. You can visit the Durkin family
website at
www.ciaraweerabrat.com . |
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