Six months after Michael Kearns and his girlfriend, Louise Benson, fell 30 metres to their deaths from the cliff at Praia dos Pescadores in Ericeira, Michael’s parents remain devastated by the shocking event and confused by the lack of answers to some basic questions.
Politely put, the “lack of transparency from the authorities” is evident, after the final Police report, which the grieving parents had to have translated into English themselves, shows that only one witness was interviewed and that DNA from a sizable clump of hair in Michael’s dead hand was analysed but yielded no information.
Michael’s parents, Kathy and Bill Kearns, say there are gaps and omissions in the report and that the it is shoddy and incomplete. The Kearns parents had been waiting in desperation to know the results of the DNA analysis but the report states that 'no determination could be made.'
“The police were absolutely adamant there was no third party involved,” said Mrs Kearns, speaking to 'Perth Now,' “I said if the hair in the hand is Michael’s then I’m happy that is the case, that there was no third party involved. I do think it was an accident. In my heart of hearts, I do think it was. I think they slipped - one slipped and grabbed the other to stop from falling.
“But all we want is answers ... and we’re guessing, which breaks your heart. We’re not saying (the Portuguese police) haven’t done their job, but they haven’t reported it, they haven’t given us the complete report.
“We either accept it and do nothing or get legal advice ... we are in limbo, but we’re resigned to the fact that we may never get the answers.”
Michael Kearns, 33, and his 37-year-old British girlfriend, Louise Benson, were nearing the end of their holiday when, sometime between 01:00 and 06:00 on June 12 they fell from the cliff at Praia dos Pescadores in Ericeira, near Lisbon.
One theory was that the tragedy was the result of a selfie gone wrong after Louise Benson’s phone was found half way down the cliff. This led officers to assume the pair may have been taking a photo, in the middle of the night, and that they fell over the low retaining wall at the cliff-top.
Benson’s iPhone, key evidence, is with her family who have yet to say whether it has been unlocked and what it contained.
The report shows that the police only spoke to one witness, the beach cleaner who found the bodies at the foot of the cliff.
The media, at least, has made an effort and tracked down a number of people who spent time with the couple in the hours before their deaths. One woman dog-walker heard someone shout or scream as if in fright, just after 05:00.
The report did not note any analysis of CCTV footage, despite there being a camera at the Maritime Police station building directly opposite where the couple fell.
Mr Kearns said at first he thought the media’s claim the investigation was being botched, just like in the Madeleine McCann case, was over the top, “But now six months on, I’m thinking it’s bloody right up the same alley - another stuff-up.”
Mrs Kearns flew to Portugal and spent ten days with two of her other sons to bring Michael’s body home and to try and find some answers, saying she did everything the Portuguese police told her to, including avoiding speaking to media in the days after the deaths.
“The impression we got from police was if we made waves, they would hold up the process and ... we would be there longer, which we didn’t want,” said Kathy Kearns.
The cliff at Praia dos Pescadores in Ericeira
Michael Kearns
Michael Kearns and Louise Benson
