Bodies found in hunt for missing Cork schoolboy

Two bodies have been found in the Cork area at the centre of a search for a missing schoolboy.

The latest image of Robert Holohan issued by Gardaí

Volunteers searching for 11-year-old Robert Holohan discovered a body near Inch Strand this afternoon.

The volunteers spotted a limb protruding from the undergrowth in a densely shrubbed area, about seven miles from the boy's home in Midleton.

A second body was discovered just hours later in Midleton town. The body of a middle aged man was found in the river about 50 yards downstream from a bridge in the town. Local sources said the body was removed by ambulance after 5 p.m.

Gardaí said this evening that they had no information to link the two discoveries.

Robert went missing from his home at Ballyedmond in Midleton eight days ago.

His BMX bike, which he had been given as a Christmas present, was found on the roadside three hours later. Superintendent Kevin Donohoe of the Garda press office said the body at Inch Strand had been discovered following a search by gardai, Army personnel and volunteers.

The Garda incident room in Midleton was contacted at 2.15 p.m. and officers immediately went to the scene. "We have an area at Inch beach cordoned off and we are now commencing a technical examination. It's lying in an inaccessible area so at this stage I can't confirm either age or gender," said Mr Donohoe.

He said the body would not be identified until tomorrow.

The search for Robert involved thousands of volunteers from all over the country. Gardaí staged a reconstruction of the youngster's last movements, while his parents Mark and Majella Holohan appealed for anyone with information to come forward.

Fr Billy O'Donovan, a parish priest in Midleton, said there was a mood of great sadness in the area.

"I was at the scene. We just said prayers. Gardaí are not saying who it is but it's incongruous in the setting of a whole quiet peaceful place," he said.

Fr O'Donovan said there was no doubt the body had been dumped there. He added that the disappearance of Robert had already had a devastating effect on the area.

"This is going to be worse. Parents have got fearful and suspicious and untrusting. I just worry for parents and above all, for Mark and Majella," he said.