The parents of missing Midleton schoolboy Robert Holohan yesterday made a direct appeal to anyone who may have abducted their son to release him as they revealed that they are still clinging to the hope that he may be alive.
Mark and Majella Holohan also issued an appeal to people all over Ireland to report any suspicious activity to gardaí as they believe that 11-year-old Robert could not be held captive without any abductor arousing the suspicions of neighbours.
Yesterday gardaí continued with an intensive forensic search of the ditch at Carrigoghna where Robert's new BMX bike was found at around 5.15 p.m. last Tuesday by another boy who brought it home for safe-keeping.
Gardaí say the fact that the bike was handled by a number of people after it was found makes it difficult to examine forensically and they're not expecting to glean any significant fingerprint findings from the bike.
Gardaí confirmed they had traced a woman seen walking her dog in the area when Robert disappeared but it had led to nothing. They will stage a reconstruction today of Robert's journey by bicycle in the hope it may jog memories.
They also insisted that they simply wanted to talk to the driver of a white van seen in the area to eliminate him from their inquiries.
In yesterday's appeal the boy's father said: "Majella and myself, we are looking at a situation where Robert hasn't been found yet and we still think it's a 50/50 [that he's alive] - we think somebody has him rather than him being simply missing." They were speaking at the family home at Ballyedmond in Midleton.
"There's been a massive search going on in the area - it really has been thoroughly searched so we're beginning to feel that, if it is a hit-and-run or if somebody had murdered him, he would be found by now.
"The simple fact that he hasn't been found by now - that's what's giving us the faith that he's still alive - we're hoping that he's inside in a house with somebody at this stage and that's he unharmed.
"What I would say is if somebody has Robert and I know now that this person is after doing a bad thing, but if he comes back alive, well at least he didn't do that - they may have done a bad thing but I'd say to them 'Don't do a worse thing' - I'd just appeal to them to let him go."
Mrs Holohan said that initially she feared Robert might have fallen and been injured but the searching had been so exhaustive that she now believed that he was abducted. She reiterated her husband's plea to any captor to release him before he is harmed.
"There's a big difference between being at a boy and murder - people can be forgiven if he's brought back - I don't really care what it takes - we just want Robert back here with us now - it's dreadful, it's a nightmare really," said Mrs Holohan.
Mr Holohan added: "There's no point in me sitting here roaring and crying - that's not going to get no one nowhere - if he's found dead, we'll do that afterwards but right now, we just think that he's with someone and we're just living with that hope."
Mr Holohan urged farmers and people with buildings to check them.
"Robert could have been moved outside of the Midleton area completely, he could be up the country, this applies to everyone from Donegal down to Cork - keep an eye on your neighbour, on anybody acting suspiciously because somebody somewhere knows something."
Mrs Holohan described Robert as a trusting happy "country boy" who loved horses and loved nature but who would be very trusting of people and could easily have been duped by a stranger into accepting a lift .
"He'd be innocent really for eleven and he takes people at face value."
