‘I DIDN’T EVEN REALISE IT WAS MY SISTER’: BROTHER RECALLS HORRIFIC MOMENT HE SAW MARIOARA ROSTAS’S REMAINS

The brother of missing teenager Marioara Rostas has recalled the devastating moment he finally saw his sister’s remains after she disappeared from Dublin and her body was discovered in a shallow grave nearly four years later.

Marioara was just 18 years old when she disappeared in Dublin on January 6, 2008.

More than four years later, her remains were recovered from the Kippure area of the Wicklow Mountains after an extensive Garda search.

Her brother, Dumitru Rostas Jr, has now spoken about the moment the family was finally able to see her remains.

“I didn’t even realise it was my sister,” he told The Irish Sun.

‘MY MOM ACTUALLY PASSED OUT’

Marioara’s family had insisted on seeing her remains after they were recovered.

Dumitru recalled how traumatic the experience was for the family, saying his mother actually fainted when she saw her daughter.

He said the condition of Marioara’s remains made it difficult for him to recognise her.

The family had spent years desperately searching for answers after Marioara vanished from Dublin.

Gardaí officially confirmed in January 2012 that the remains discovered at Kippure had been positively identified as Marioara. A post-mortem examination found that she had died from gunshot wounds.

SHE DISAPPEARED AFTER GETTING INTO A CAR

Marioara had been begging on the streets of Dublin when a man approached her and offered to buy her food.

Her younger brother saw her get into a Ford Mondeo.

It was the last time the family would see her alive.

At the time, Marioara and her family were Romanian immigrants who had come to Ireland hoping for a better life. The family later faced enormous difficulties while trying to navigate the investigation and deal with the financial consequences of her death.

Her disappearance triggered a major Garda investigation.

Investigators eventually focused on a house on Brabazon Street in Dublin’s Liberties, which had been damaged by fire shortly after Marioara disappeared.

During a later examination of the property, Gardaí discovered bullet fragments embedded in a wall. According to the investigation, ballistics evidence indicated the ammunition was of the same type used in Marioara’s killing.

THE BODY WAS FOUND AFTER A FOUR-YEAR SEARCH

In late 2011, Fergus O’Hanlon, a criminal associate who had become involved with the investigation, agreed to assist Gardaí in locating Marioara’s body.

O’Hanlon eventually brought investigators to an area of the Wicklow Mountains.

After an extensive search, Gardaí recovered Marioara’s remains from a shallow grave on January 23, 2012.

The official Garda account said the body had been buried in woodland at Kippure following a 13-day search operation.

The discovery finally gave Marioara’s family the opportunity to bury her and have a place where they could mourn her.

MAN TRIED FOR HER MURDER WAS ACQUITTED

A man named Alan Wilson was later tried at Dublin’s Central Criminal Court for Marioara’s murder.

The prosecution case relied heavily on evidence from Fergus O’Hanlon, who had been granted immunity from prosecution.

After a five-week trial in 2014, the jury found Wilson not guilty of Marioara’s murder.

The verdict meant that the prosecution did not secure a conviction for Marioara’s killing.

O’Hanlon’s evidence was heavily challenged during the trial, while the defence argued that there was insufficient evidence linking Wilson to the murder.

No one has been convicted of Marioara’s murder.

‘SHE’S NOT GOING TO BE FORGOTTEN’

Despite the passage of almost two decades, Marioara’s family continues to remember her.

Dumitru returned to Ireland to work and help his family deal with debts connected to the funeral and the years that followed Marioara’s death.

He now has three sons of his own and said he talks to them about their aunt so that her memory continues within the family.

The family has only a small number of photographs to remember Marioara by.

Dumitru said that, as long as his family is alive, Marioara will not be forgotten.

He has also appealed to anyone who may have information about what happened to his sister to come forward.

For Marioara’s family, the discovery of her remains ended the agonising uncertainty over where she was — but it did not end their search for justice.

Nearly two decades after the teenager disappeared from a Dublin street, her family continues to carry her memory.