Arrest made in connection with Cookstown murder case

Today (Saturday) police arrested a 50-year-old as part of a murder investigation stemming from the disappearance of a Cookstown man.

Damien Heagney (Pictured above), 47, was reported missing on July 19 but has not been seen since the early hours of New Year’s Eve 2021.

Heagney was last seen in Dromore, county Tyrone, eight months ago.

A murder investigation has been launched and today (Saturday, August 6) a 50-year-old man was arrested in connection.

Commenting on the case, Detective Chief Inspector Rachel Wilson said she believes the Cookstown man has been murdered and stated that an investigation is ongoing.

DCI Wilson said, “On July 19, police received a report that Damien was missing. Whilst I’m keeping an open mind, I now believe that Damien has sadly been murdered.

“Damien is 47 years of age, around 5′ 10″ tall, of stocky build, and has links to the Tyrone area. While Damien was reported missing to Police on 19th July this year, we have established that he was last seen late on the 30th into the early hours of 31st December 2021 in the Dromore area outside Cookstown.

“Earlier today, Saturday 6th August, we arrested a 50 year old male on suspicion of murder following the search of one property in the Cookstown area. He is currently helping with ongoing enquiries.

“I would appeal for anyone who has any information surrounding Damien’s disappearance to contact Major Investigation Team detectives at on 101 quoting reference 1058 of 19/07/22.”