What happened to Michael O'Leary? ITV's No Body Recovered explores case
In January 2020, father-of-three Michael O'Leary went missing but his body was never found.
ITV are looking into the mysterious death of father-of-three Michael O'Leary in their new documentary No Body Recovered.
Back in 2020, Mike vanished on his way home from work. His abandoned truck was later found by a river four miles from his home in Carmarthen, West Wales and forensic evidence confirmed his blood on some clothing in a derelict farm, owned by local builder Andrew Jones.
Jones became the main suspect in the case after police discovered Mike was having an affair with his wife Rhiannon, however, without a body, a murder charge proved very difficult at the time.
In October 2020, Jones was eventually found guilty.
Using exclusive new and archive footage interwoven with interviews with family members and key officers, No Body Recovered aims to provide a vivid insight into how police built their case against Andrew Jones by scouring through CCTV footage, mobile phone data and forensic evidence.
What happened to Michael O'Leary?
In January 2020, Michael O'Leary, 55, went missing on his way home in Wales.
His disappearance led to a major investigation by Dyfed-Powys police, after his family received a text that was out of character, and his abandoned truck was found by a river four miles from his home in Carmarthen, West Wales.
Suspicion soon fell on local builder Andrew Jones after police discovered Mike was having an affair with his wife Rhiannon. Yet with no body emerging during their investigation, proving a murder case against him required resourceful policing.
In the documentary, Chief Inspector Paul Jones, the police's senior investigating officer, explains why Andrew Jones, a well-known local businessman, may have had the means to be the killer.
He says: "First of all he’s somebody with no previous convictions, never come to police attention, apart from he’s a very successful businessman. But he’s a builder, he has access to machinery, access to ongoing building sites, building works, foundations, his capability to dispose of a body is I would say probably the most difficult one to investigate."
The last known sighting of Mike O’Leary was at Andrew Jones’s derelict farm, so the investigating team began their searches of acres of land and numerous buildings.
They eventually found some shirt buttons, which after examination revealed a tiny trace of blood that DNA analysis proved to be Mike's blood.
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Andrew Jones then admitted meeting Mike O'Leary on the night he went missing, and is the last person to have seen him.
The court heard Jones took a rifle with him to the meeting, which he claimed accidentally went off during a fight between the pair and killed Mr O Leary.
Mr Jones then used Mr O’Leary’s phone to send a text to his wife saying: “I’m sorry”, claiming to be him.
Jones was jailed for at least 30 years at Swansea Crown Court in October 2020.
Where is Mike O'Leary's body?
The body of Michael O'Leary has never been found.
However, a piece of tissue of a small intestine was found at the bottom of a rusty oil barrel by cops on March 14th 2020. It matched the DNA profile of Mr O’Leary.
Prosecuting, Lady Justice Jefford QC told Jones the destruction of the body had “robbed the family of a funeral”.
"I have no doubt that in enticing Mr O'Leary to this meeting was to kill him," she said. "This was clearly a planned ambush."
Following Mr Jones’ sentencing, Mr O’Leary’s wife Sian spoke of her marriage, saying: “I know Mike loved me and that gives me great comfort.We were trying to overcome some things in our marriage. We talked about growing old together. I would worry sometimes that my luck would run out and it did in January.”
No Body Recovered airs on ITV on Thursday, 29th July at 9pm. Looking for something else to watch? Check out our TV Guide or visit our dedicated Documentaries hub.
