A woman’s body has been found washed up on a beach in the Mull of Kintyre.
Strathclyde Police said the body has not yet been identified, but reports have suggested it may be that of missing Northern Irish woman Karen Coyles (47), who disappeared from her home town of Ballycastle, County Antrim, on the evening of Sunday September 11th.
The body was reportedly found by a tourist at Rhunahoarine Point, Tayinloan, and it is believed to have been in the water for some time. Initial reports suggest there are no suspicious circumstances.
Ms Coyles, who was not married, worked at the University of Ulster’s Coleraine campus at the research institute.
The alarm was raised when she failed to turn up for work on Monday September 12th.
Her car, a silver Volkswagen Golf, was found at the McQuillan’s GAA club, where she is captain and goalkeeper of the camogie team.
A major search operation was launched by coastguard teams and a police
helicopter, who were assisted members of the local community.
A Strathclyde Police spokeswoman said: “At around 12.45pm on Thursday September 22, police received a report of a woman’s body being found at Rhunahoarine Point, Tayinloan.
“Inquiries are ongoing to establish the identity of the victim and a post-mortem will be carried out in due course to establish a cause of death.”
PA