Sylvia Ferguson: The Missing Infant of Cullybackey

By Ned Byrne

The countryside of Cullybackey, in the county of Antrim, is beautiful, with undulating fields sloping down to the meandering river Maine. Tranquil, indeed, but when a young child of two goes missing, panic ensues. On 30 September 1797, that is exactly what happened. The resident detective of Ballymena, Brock Adair, assists with the search. Can the child be found?

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Jan 29, 2013
• ISBN: 9781481782821

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© 2013 by Ned Byrne. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 01/25/2013

ISBN: 978-1-4817-8281-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4817-8282-1 (e)

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Contents

Introduction

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Epilogue

SKU-000612796_TEXT.pdf

Introduction

It is a sad fact that ever since the first documented crime—Abel’s murder by his brother Cain—human beings have been subjected to countless acts of murder and other offences against their persons and property. Whilst in the case of Cain and Abel we know the identity of the offender, sadly, in many cases across the world, the offenders remain unknown. Throughout history, men and women have taken it upon themselves to investigate crime and to bring the offenders to justice.

The account that follows in this short story relates to the abduction of a young child in the countryside of County Antrim in 1797. Brock Adair, a young investigator from Ballymena, had taken it upon himself from a very young age to investigate crimes not only in his own locale but also the length and breadth of Ireland. He detested criminal acts and the people who carried them out. His reputation as an investigator grew to such a degree that his presence was requested in numerous counties across Ireland. Perhaps we tend to think that crime or its prevalence pertains to our day only, but it applied in Adair’s lifetime as well. As a result of documents discovered in Cullybackey in 2006, the investigations of Brock