Two men appeared before Ballymena Court in County Antrim via video link this morning charged in relation to the murder of Chloe Mitchell.
26 year old Brandon John Rainey, 26 who is reportedly unemployed and has an address at an address on James Street Ballymena is accused of murdering the 21 year old woman sometime between the 2nd and 5th of June last.
Counsel for Rainey argued that the accused is a diagnosed “paranoid schizophrenic” while it was also argued that Gordon has ‘mental health issues’.
Pursuant to this morning’s court proceedings, Rainey was remanded in custody until the 6th of July to allow for medical assessments after a PSNI officer objected to his solicitor’s request that he be sent to a secure unit arguing Rainey has previously escaped from the facility on three previous occasions.
The Belfast Telegraph reported that in 2022 Rainey was the subject of a tribunal which ruled that he should not be released from a mental health institution but that this decision was overturned 14 days later leading to his release from Shannon Clinic in Belfast.
His co-accused, Ryan Johnston Gordon, 34 from Nursery Close Ballymena is charged with assisting an offender on the same dates and was remanded in custody with the possibility of a bail application for the 20th of June
Gordon’s solicitor argued that his client, a care assistant, suffers from ‘mental health issues’.
The young woman was last seen on CCTV approaching the area of James Street Ballymena in the early hours of the 3rd of June.
Chloe Mitchell’s body was discovered yesterday in Ballymena after extensive searches were carried out by the Community Rescue Service and PSNI.
Detective Chief Inspector Richard Millar said, “Sadly today detectives have recovered suspected human remains in Ballymena and while there has been no formal identification we have launched a murder enquiry into the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of 21-year-old Chloe Mitchell who was a high risk missing person.
“Earlier this week we launched a criminal investigation into Chloe’s disappearance. Tragically, we now have reason to believe Chloe was murdered.
“Our thoughts this evening are very much with Chloe’s family and we have specialist officers providing them with support at the heart-breaking time”.