Noah Donohoe Inquest: Police Ramp Up Search

0:00On March 23rd, the inquest into the death of 14-year-old Noah Donahoe has heard how police quickly ramped up their search efforts after he went missing. Noah, a student at St Malachai's College in Belfast, left home on his bike on June 16th, 2020 to meet friends near Cave Hill but vanished. His naked body turned up six days later in a storm-drained tunnel in North Belfast, with drowning listed as the likely cause. Inspector Bell, who led early coordination as a sergeant, told the court they assigned a significant number of officers right away because they recognized the high-risk fast. This came during the ninth week of the jury inquest at Belfast Corner's Court. Police followed leads like family info, school contacts, friends, social media, and phone data since Noah wasn't in their systems. They checked addresses of relatives and buddies, figuring he might have crashed out of friends or slept rough somewhere. Officers reviewed city center CCTV for Noah on his bike and scoured areas including Northwood Road, where footage caught a youth cycling naked.

1:04Air support swept Cave Hill overnight, but with no firm signs he was there. His plans had changed. They prioritized spots most likely to yield resultant, that busy area, the hearing resumes tomorrow, shedding more light on those critical first days of the search.