The grieving family of a teen found dead in north Dublin 20 years ago this week have called on detectives to open a cold case review as they continue to seek justice and the truth about his death.
Christopher ‘Snowy’ Flood had only turned 18 when he was found face down near bollards at the end of the eight storey flats on Sillogue Road in Ballymun on February 2, 2002.
His heartbroken family believe he was killed by someone - whether accidentally or not - and want the people who took his life brought to justice as they renew their appeal for information on the 20th anniversary of his death.
Christopher was found with bruises across his knuckles but the coroner’s report ruled that there were no broken bones in his body which is not consistent if he fell to his death from the flats.
During the inquest into his death, the jury returned with an open verdict and a third party was not ruled out - leaving Christopher’s family wanting questions and the truth about his death answered.
And speaking on the 20th anniversary of Christopher’s death, the late teen’s sister revealed the family have asked detectives to re-open the investigation into his death.
“A few months ago we went to detectives to ask them to re-open the investigation and we are waiting for news on that,” said Maria.
“You see all these cold cases being reopened and many of them solved and that’s what we want.
“We have never believed or thought his death was an accident in that he fell from the flats.
“Especially with his autopsy concluding he had no broken bones which is not consistent with a fall,” said Maria, who was 13 at the time of his death.
“Our dad Martin died of a broken heart in 2013 trying to get justice and the truth and we buried him not knowing what happened to Christopher.
“We don’t want to send our mam Lorraine to her grave not knowing either.
“Gardai initially put it down as suicide, but we said no way and then suicide was ruled out. And then gardai said it was still consistent with a fall.
“There is no real evidence either as his clothes were incinerated and we don’t know who gave that authorisation,” Maria continued.
Describing her late brother as a “gorgeous lad,” Maria said he was “also hardworking.”
“He loved his job in an industrial estate in Santry. He’d do anything or anybody. He’d have literally given his last cent to you.”
And as the family marked Christopher’s 20th anniversary on Wednesday, they say the fight for the truth and justice “is relentless.”
“It’s the same thing every year and we don’t feel we have had any closure, the truth or justice. On Christopher’s anniversary we are reliving that day over and over again.”
“Even if it was an accidental killing we still want to know what happened to him. God knows what he was thinking in his last few minutes,” said Maria.
The family has also renewed their appeal for anyone with any information to come forward.
“Even the smallest bit of information can be so vital,” said Maria, adding that someone who may know something may have been afraid to come forward at the time.
“We are all older now. We all have kids now and they keep asking about him, he is an uncle they have grown up without. Someone has to know something about Christopher’s death,” she said.
