Severe weather has been blamed for the death of a father and his young son in the Co Donegal village of Mountcharles on Wednesday night.
Mr Paul Chapman (34) and his son Sean (9) died when their car went into the sea close to a pier outside the village.
Waves were lashing the road and there were gusts of wind reaching 80 m.p.h. at the time. At the point where the car entered the water, the narrow road is 10 feet above sea level.
An Air Corps helicopter found the body of Sean Chapman on a beach two miles from the scene at 9.30 a.m. yesterday after an extensive search.
Mr Chapman's body was found just yards from his Ford Sierra car close to the shore shortly after the alarm was raised on Wednesday night.
Up to 100 local people joined gardai and an Air Corps helicopter, under a rescue team from Killybegs, in searching the area. Strong winds forced the helicopter to return to its base at Finner camp and the search was called off after 1 a.m. It resumed at first light yesterday.
Mr Chapman's mother is from Mountcharles, now living in England, and he had moved to the village in September with his wife and four children. He was staying with relatives in a house just a couple of hundred yards from the scene of the accident. He was working in a hotel in Donegal town, five miles away, and was planning to build a house in the area.
He is believed to have left the house with his son at about 6 p.m. on Wednesday to go for messages.
Local man Mr Jackie Rose raised the alarm when he spotted Mr Chapman's upturned car in the sea. "I saw the number plate reflected in the water. I thought maybe it was something that had been dumped but then I saw the car was fresh-looking. When I checked it out, I could find no one in it, but when I looked again, I saw the body in the water," he said.
Sgt Tom Lyons said local people were stunned by the tragedy and he praised them for the help they had given in the search.
"It happened on a stretch of road that would be torn out in bad weather. In fact, they're putting rocks in there at the moment to protect the road," he said.
Sgt Lyons said the strong waves had hit the car and the combination of waves and wind had swept it into the sea.
The body of Sean Chapman was taken to Letterkenny General Hospital and a post-mortem examination is to be carried out. The child's grandmother is returning from England.
Local people said they couldn't believe such a tragedy had occurred in the village. The family the Chapmans were staying with were very well known locally. "I can't believe it. That little boy was in here getting a video last Friday. And he was a lovely little fellow," one shop owner said.