Grief and gratitude as family of Debbie Crothers praise work of volunteers who found her body

The family of a woman whose disappearance sparked a major manhunt has thanked the scores of volunteer searchers for their “relentless” work in helping to uncover her body.
By Adam Kula
Published 20th Dec 2021, 16:04 BST
The message posted by Paul Crothers in memory of mother DebbieThe message posted by Paul Crothers in memory of mother Debbie
The message posted by Paul Crothers in memory of mother Debbie

Debbie Crothers, 53, had vanished on Friday, December 10 from her home in the Dunluskin Gardens area of Carrickfergus.

She had been at home by herself, and was visited by a guest who left at 6.30pm that day.

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Later, neighbours noticed that while her TV and lights were on, the door of her house was open and she was nowhere to be seen.

Sean McCarry, head of the Community Rescue Service (CRS) – which carries out manhunts for missing people – had been deploying up to 50 volunteers per day to look for her.

They were searching outwards from her address, including the thick forested area of Bashfordlands Woods.

But this morning, Mr McCarry told the News Letter that the hunt was over.

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In a message posted on Facebook, son Paul Crothers wrote: “As a family we would like to send out our sincerest gratitude to everyone that helped in the search for our mum, be it sharing a post or physically looking.

“I cannot thank the community search and rescue enough for their work in the past week; they have been relentless in there efforts.

“Mum grew her angel wings and is finally at peace with our Granda Billy, while this is toughest time in our lives we will stay strong as a family and always ensure that Maisie remembers her Nanny Debbie.

“As soon as we know any arrangements we will let everyone know.

“We will always love and miss you mum.”

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There were nearly 300 comments which followed, voicing shock and condolences.

The PSNI said: “A post mortem will be carried out to determine the cause of death, however the death is not being treated as suspicious at this time.”

It is understood she was found on wasteground adjacent to Carrick Grammar School, not far from the Elim church which she attended, at about 4pm on Saturday.

She was devoutly religious; her Facebook page timeline was filled with Biblical posts.

There are no funeral details at time of writing.

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