EXCLUSIVE
BY Nigel Gould
A MYSTERY tape recording could hold the key to the truth behind an Ulster man’s baffling disappearance in Tunisia nearly a year ago, it emerged today.
The man's wife believes it could finally unravel one of the biggest aviation puzzles in recent years.
Banbridge man Dessie Boomer (39) was last seen alive in early December.
He is believed to have climbed on board a plane in Tunisia for a short flight to Malta, enroute home for Christmas.
What happened next is a mystery.
The plane and its six pas-
sengers never arrived at its destination and despite a huge search operation involving the US, Malta and Tunisia, no trace has been found.
Dessie, son of Cormac Boomer, a former SDLP councillor in Belfast. is still listed as missing. Now, after months in limbo and a constant battle against a wall of bureaucracy and conjecture, his wife Mandy is hoping there is light at the end of the tunnel, with an investigation by a board of inquiry.
She said: "Things have hotted up a bit, we have found out there is a tape existing of a conversation between the pilot and Tunis air traffic control.
"It has transpired over the
last couple ot days that the Tunisians have agreed to co-operate with the Maltese. The tape would mean they were up in the air. However, the tape still has to be analysed to make sure it isn't a fake.
Disappointment is something mum-of-five Mandy has faced before. Shes already been twice to Malta since Dessie‘s disappearance. "I feel the investigators have jumped into the middle of this." she said. “They are working on the premise that the plane took off and went down.
“I want to go back to the beginning. Let's establish eyewitnesses,
"Did anyone see them
boarding that plane. for example. I want to establish exactly what happened."
"The chances of Dessie being alive are 99-1 but I'm still ready to hang on to the 1%" she added.
"I am not convinced the plane did go down — although I have to admit it is a major possibility.
There are definetely people, including close friends, who would say to me, "Mandy he is dead. Pack it up and get on with it"
"But you cope, you have to cope, 99% of the time I am just waiting for him to come back.“
"Recently our daughter Patricia got very good GCSE results and that was bitter sweet."
"We both cried. One minute I was laughing and ecstatic — then there were tears because Dessie wasn't there to share it".
