Gardaí have confirmed the identity of the skeletal remains found in south Co Dublin last Friday as Dublin woman Elaine O’Hara (36). The case is being treated as a suspicious death. Gardaí have not ruled out the possibility she was murdered and her remains dumped where they were found by somebody trying to conceal her death. Officers in Blackrock, south Dublin, have appealed for anyone who may have seen Ms O’Hara since the last confirmed sighting of her on August 22nd, 2012, at Ballinclea Heights, Killiney, south Dublin, to contact them. Gardaí believe she had been to visit the grave of her mother around the time of the last confirmed sightings of her. She was seen at 5.05pm on that Wednesday evening leaving Belarmine Plaza, Stepaside, south Co Dublin. Just over an hour later, at about 6.15pm, there was a reported sighting of her near that footbridge over the railway line at Shanganagh in Shankill and later in Killiney. About two days later her green Fiat Punto, with its 05 D registration, was found at Shanganagh cemetery in Shankill, not far from the spot of the last sighting. Gardaí say she had been to visit her mother’s grave and may have been depressed. However, they are also examining the possibility that she was murdered. The woman who made the discovery of the partial skeletal remains last Friday was on Killakee mountain, Rathfarnham, south Co Dublin, at about 7.30pm when her dog went into undergrowth and would not come out. The owner went in after the animal and found what she believed to be human remains. The Garda were alerted and the scene was sealed off immediately. The area remains sealed off. The medical examination of the remains has been led by deputy State pathologist Dr Michael Curtis. Ms O’Hara was 5ft 4in in height and of stocky build with mousey brown hair. When she went missing gardaí say she was wearing jeans, runners and a blue top, with either a jacket or a jumper. Runners and a tracksuit top were found with the remains last Friday. Gardaí also say the remains likely had sunk into the ground as the body decomposed and had then been covered by undergrowth and grass. The same sources said if the remains had been buried, very little effort was made to conceal them beneath the earth. Gardaí collected DNA from Ms O’Hara’s family at the time of her disappearance, which has now been cross-checked against a DNA profile from the bones found last Friday. That sample and the cross checking of her dental records against a jaw bone found at the scene have confirmed the remains are hers.
Posted on: Tue, 17 Sep 2013 17:18:18 +0000
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