QUINN MURDER: Missing 15 minutes could provide the key

On Friday, January 30 last year, just before 11pm, Ryan died on the railway tracks near McLaughlin's Bar in Portrush.

Senior investigating officer, Detective Chief Inspector Ian Harrison told a press conference on Friday: "From day one this has been treated as murder and we continue to treat it as murder.

"There were about 60 people present in the bar on the night and to date we have carried out extensive investigations into Ryan's death. We have taken 253 statements and witness accounts.

"We know that between 10.30pm and 10.40pm there was entertainment in the bar and we believe that Ryan was there during that entertainment.

"At 10.40pm until Ryan being struck by the train at approximately 10.57am we are unsure of his movements.

"That's from approximately 10.40 pm until 10.57pm

"We know that after the entertainment ended in the bar a significant portion of people from the bar would have gone outside to the smoking area.

"I would appeal to those people who can help fill in that time gap.

"There are still individuals who have information and we appreciate that there may be people who have concerns about coming to the police, perhaps, because they may have been drinking under age or they may not want people to know that they are helping police."

Det Chief Insp Harrison stressed that main focus of the investigation is Ryan's murder, not any possible underage drinking in the bar.

"But it is paramount that they come forward to tell us - not just to help us but to give answers to Ryan's family who are living with this on a daily basis.

"The tragic nature of this is that, in the seconds before his death, Ryan was on the phone to his father asking his father to help him.

"He told his father that a person or persons were coming to get him.

"He was pleading with his father to help him.

" I would appeal to the local community to question themselves. Do they have anything relevant that can help the police and Ryan's family?

"Don't assume that we know everything. I would rather hear the same piece of information two or three times than not at all.

"To the young people of the area, I would say - put yourselves in the shoes of this family. How would your parents or loved ones feel if this incident happened to your family?

"We don't believe that we have all the pieces of the jigsaw. There is a timeframe that we can't account for.

"There is the potential that young people are worried about what their parents might say about them being in a bar on the night in question but we are not focusing on the issue of young people being in the bar. We are purely interested in how Ryan lost his life."

Det Chief Insp Harrison said that police would be revisiting witnesses in the case as people may have had their memories jogged or forgotten pieces of information in an oversight.

Anyone with information contact the police on 0845 600 8000 and ask for detectives in Coleraine or alternatively speak to the Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.