Family of murdered backpacker last seen alive on ferry from Scotland hope inquest will deliver answers

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The family of a teenage German backpacker murdered in Northern Ireland hope that a new inquest can deliver long-awaited answers over her death.

Inga Maria Hauser's body was discovered in a remote forest in Co Antrim 14 days after she was last seen alive on a ferry from Scotland. The 18-year-old’s death in April 1988 remains one of the region’s most high-profile unsolved murders.

Coroner Joe McCrisken convened a pre-inquest review hearing on Monday ahead of a fresh inquest into the Munich teenager’s death. Ms Hauser’s sister Friederike was among those who observed proceedings at Belfast Coroners’ Court by videolink.

During the brief hearing, barrister for the family Malachy McGowan told Mr McCrisken his clients were grateful for the decision to hold the probe. He said the family had been waiting decades for answers.

“They place their trust and considerable hope in this process,” he added. Mr McCrisken acknowledged how long the family had waited for the truth.

“We’ll do everything we can to facilitate an investigation into this lady’s death,” he added. Before her murder, Ms Hauser had travelled through England and Scotland and, according to diary entries, intended to travel south to Dublin after her ferry docked at Larne, Co Antrim.

For reasons unknown, she ended up going in the opposite direction and was found dead two weeks later in a remote part of Ballypatrick Forest. Police have a male genetic profile found at the murder scene.

A number of years ago, in one of the largest DNA screenings undertaken in the UK, 2,000 samples failed to produce a definitive match. In 2018, a year that marked the 30th anniversary of the murder, police made several arrests.

However, two years later prosecutors announced there was insufficient evidence to prosecute a man and a woman investigated in connection with the death. Outside court after Monday’s hearing, solicitor for the family Claire McKeegan said they just wanted the truth.

“I spoke to Friederike just before we attended the court, she was extremely nervous and anxious, as is to be expected,” said Ms McKeegan. Her family have lived through this nightmare since 1988.”

She added: “The family just want the truth. They just want the people who are responsible for this brutal murder to be brought to justice. The family are grateful that this process has commenced, apprehensive and desperate for the truth.”

Late SDLP Assembly member John Dallat was a central figure in the campaign to secure justice for Ms Hauser. He daughter, SDLP councillor Helena Dallat O’Driscoll, has continued to pursue the case and attended Monday’s hearing.

Also in attendance were family members of murdered Co Down hairdresser Lisa Dorrian, who went missing from a caravan park in Ballyhalbert, Co Down, in 2005. Ms Dorrian’s father John and sister Joanne were in court as the long-awaited inquest proceedings for Ms Hauser formally commenced.

The next review hearing has been listed for January 22.

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