Behind the Story: What happened to Kelly Marie Lynch?

A new documentary 'The Girl in the Water' follows the family of Kelly Marie Lynch, as they seek answers around the circumstances of her death.

The 23-year-old's body was discovered near Horseshoe Bridge in Co Monaghan on St Patrick’s Day 2024.

The initial post-mortem report concluded that Ms Lynch had died by drowning.

A desktop review by a second pathologist disagreed and said it was likely hypothermia.

However, a further review from Dr Fintan Garavan - an Irish-trained pathologist who works in the United States - concluded it was neither of these things and that Ms Lynch had most likely died after a violent attack.

Alan Bradley is the producer of the documentary, and he told Behind the Story how he came across her case.

"I was scrolling on TikTok, and I came across her mother, Julianne Lynch, sharing this story about her daughter… she had all these questions about her daughter’s death and didn’t feel like she was getting any answers," he said.

"I thought it wasn’t getting the attention it deserved.

"As I looked into the case more, and I saw the questions the Lynch family had, I started to realise that this was a really important story – and it was one that deserved national attention."

Mr Bradley said one of the issues the Lynch family could not comprehend is her mobile phone.

"Kelly’s phone was found in her hand, and when [Kelly’s family] asked the guards ‘was the phone water-damaged?’, they said ‘no’.

"So, the idea that they’re trying to get across is (that) Kelly’s found with her phone in her hand, it’s not water damaged, but there was enough water to cover her face so that she could drown.

"They just couldn’t understand how those two things would make sense."

‘They have no clarity’

Mr Bradley said the Lynch family feel like they are stuck "in limbo".

"They have no answers, Kelly’s loss they’ll always feel, but they can’t even begin to grieve or mourn her because they’re stuck.

"They don’t know what happened to her, they have no clarity."

Mr Bradley said he hopes the documentary will further raise Ms Lynch’s case.

‘The Girl in the Water’ will air on Wednesday 8 July at 9.35pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player.

You can listen to Behind the Story on the RTÉ Radio Player.

You can also find episodes on Apple here, or on Spotify here.