Gardaí investigating the abduction and murder of Robert Holohan are seeking information on a white pick-up truck seen parked midway between where Robert was last seen and where his BMX bike was later found.
Supt Liam Hayes disclosed yesterday that follwing appeals made by the Garda at a press conference on Thursday night, they had received close to 100 new calls with information, including a report of a white pick-up truck in the area where Robert disappeared.
"This white pick-up truck was seen parked midway between Ballyedmond Hill where Robert was last seen alive and Carrigoghna where his bike was found. The pick-up was unoccupied at the time, but the passenger door was open," said Supt Hayes.
"It was seen there at around 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday, January 4th, which was the time of the last confirmed sighting of Robert, so we'd be very anxious to talk to the driver of that pick-up truck to eliminate them from our inquiries or anyone else who may have seen it."
Supt Hayes said that two golfers who had paid green fees at nearby East Cork Golf Club, whom the Garda had been seeking, had come forward. However, they still wanted to speak to three men who went to hire clubs in the club's pro shop.
Gardaí are also still anxious to speak to the owner of a small red van seen at Curragh Wood at 5.15 p.m. and what they describe as "a well-dressed man aged between 30 and 50" who was seen at Egan's Field near Water Rock at 1.10 p.m. and again at 2.40 p.m.
Meanwhile, a team of 50 detectives were continuing with their inquiries following up close to 1,000 pieces of information supplied by the public following a series of appeals over the past 12 days.
Detectives from the Garda Technical Bureau in Dublin have completed their examination of the scene where Robert's body was found at Glanturkin near Inch Strand at around 2 p.m. on Wednesday, but the area remained cordoned off last night.
A divisional search team comprising some 40 uniformed and plainclothes officers from Cork city joined 80 soldiers from Cork, Limerick and Kilkenny in an extensive search over a three-mile radius from where Robert's body was found.
An Army Southern Brigade spokesman, Comdt Dan Harvey of Collins Barracks, said that troops were assisting the Garda investigation by searching for "items of evidential value in an investigative area".
Gardaí and soldiers equipped with chainsaws, strimmers, slashhooks and machetes began clearing ditches on the roads and boreens approaching Inch Strand in the hope of finding something which Robert's killer may have discarded while dumping the body.
Meanwhile, a team of divers from the Garda water unit also searched the coastline around Inch Strand as well as a stream flowing into the sea near where Robert's body was discovered.
And small teams of gardaí and soldiers searched the ditches of the roadway from Inch Strand all the way back to Midleton town yesterday in continuing search for clues as to who abducted and murdered Robert.
Some 20 detectives and plainclothes officers spent the day carrying out door-to-door inquiries in the Inch area and along the main route between Midleton and Inch to find out if anyone might have noticed any suspicious activities.
According to one Garda source, the investigation is being very tightly run. "It's very tight. Everybody is given a job to do, you do it and report back, but you have no idea what others are doing, and only a small number of people know what way it's going," the source said.