Ireland Mark Dowling, 20, missing after car accident, Dublin, 17 March 1984

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The Doe Network: Case File 1140DMIRL
Case File 1140DMIRL

Mark Dowling
Missing since March 17, 1984 from Howth, Co. Dublin, Ireland.
Classification: Missing



Vital Statistics

• • Date Of Birth: 1964
  • Age at Time of Disappearance: 20 years old
  • Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'9" (175 cm.)
  • Distinguishing Characteristics: Curly brown hair; brown eyes. Dowling is of an average build.

Circumstances of Disappearance
Mark Dowling was last seen in Howth, Co. Dublin on March 17, 1984. He was driving a red Opel Kadette Estate car reg. number 909GZL. On St Patrick's night in 1984, Dowling had been out driving and had two friends with him in the car. Around 21.00 the car hit a tree near Deer Park Golf Club in Howth. They were all unharmed and the three of them got out to inspect the damage. Then without warning, Dowling got into the car and drove off, leaving the two friends to walk home. There have been no confirmed sightings of Mark or the car since.

There were fears at the time that he may have suffered some kind of memory loss or that he went off to England. In the years following 1984, there was extensive media coverage, but it never brought any new information on Dowling's disappearance. Howth Harbour was searched by divers, but nothing was found. His disappearance remains a mystery as he was happy and successful and was about to get married.

 

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May 25, 2010
Irish Examiner USA: Ireland's "Missing" - A Worrying Epidemic
''It's likely that Mark Dowling's friends were sure he'd be back within minutes. In March 1984, after the 20-year-old Dublin man and his pals stepped out of his vehicle to inspect some minor damage, Mark climbed back in to the car and drove off. In the subsequent twenty-six years, Mark Dowling, a successful and seemingly happy young man who was about to get married, has not been seen or heard from, leaving his distraught family and friends clueless as to his whereabouts.

Neither extensive searches in the Dublin area and beyond, nor widespread media coverage at the time and since have yielded any information with regards to his disappearance, and to this day, he remains one of Ireland's many missing people.

The case of Mark Dowling is not an isolated one. On average, five people are reported missing in Ireland every day, leading to anywhere up to 2,000 individual cases each year.

Of these, a huge majority will have left their homes and families voluntarily, perhaps they were unhappy or depressed, or simply needed some time alone, and would return home within days, or even hours.

Another far less sizeable amount are found deceased after several days or weeks, having either been involved in a fatal accident, or in worse scenarios, chosen to take their own lives, or even been murdered.

Of the remainder still unaccounted for, most, it is suspected, will have disappeared against their will, while some have simply vanished, leaving no clue as to any suspicious activity that may or may not have been involved in their leaving.''