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Army says Ciara took her own life 27.06.08

THE family of slain soldier Ciara Durkin including her Buncrana-based sister Aine have appealed for privacy after the US Army concluded she took her own life. The Durkin family recently received the Army's final report into her death in Afghanistan last September.
They posted the following statement on their website dedicated to Ciara: "We are very upset and saddened by their (US Army's) conclusion. We have borne an extraordinary amount of pain over the past nine months, compounded by a protracted and at times ambiguous investigation. We now need time and privacy to grieve, and let our Ciara finally rest in peace. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam."
The translation of the Irish is: “May her noble soul be at the right hand
The late Ciara Durkin
of God.”
Durkin had a desk job doing payroll in an office about three miles inside the secure Bagram Air Base. About 90 minutes after she left work on September 28, 2007, her family says she was found dead near a chapel on the base with a single gunshot wound to the head.
Buncrana was deeply saddened by the death as the 30-year old soldier had spent many summers as a teenager in the seaside town with her older sister and had worked in a number of places including McGinley's post office.
USA Criminal Investigation Command have now declared the investigation into her death closed with the cause ruled as “self-inflicted.”
They say their conclusion was founded on all the available evidence including witness statements, evidence at the scene, phone records, a psychological review and the finding of suicide by the Army's medical examiner.
Other members of Durkin's family who live in Quincy, Massachusetts, previously said that during her last visit home earlier in September 2007, Ciara talked about “making enemies” because of things she learned working in the finance unit of the base. The Durkins had discounted the suicide theory saying Ciara, whom they affectionately knew as 'Ciara Weera Brat' had plans for the future and appeared happy during her last visit home. You can visit the Durkin family website at www.ciaraweerabrat.com .
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