GARDAI believe a body found in the Shannon estuary may be that of JoJo Dullard, the Kilkenny woman who went missing while hitch hiking through Co Kildare in 1995.
The body has not yet been identified, but in some respects it matches Ms Dullard's description. Ms Dullard's family has been informed of the find. The State Pathologist, Dr John Harbison, is expected to carry out a post mortem examination early this week.
Gardai have stressed the body cannot be identified before Dr Harbison's work is complete. While it more closely matches Ms Dullard's description than that of anyone else in the missing persons' files at Garda Headquarters, gardai stress it could be the body of someone never reported missing.
One item which raises doubts is a training shoe found on the body. Ms Dullard was believed to have been wearing short black boots at the time she went missing. However, jeans and a belt found on the body resemble those Ms Dullard was believed to be wearing.
Two men who were out searching for lost sheep late last Thursday evening saw the body in the water near Bush Island, about two miles from Bunratty, Co Clare.
The men, farmers and part time fishermen, alerted the Bunratty search and rescue unit to the find. As it was growing dark the search team did not put out from Bunratty pier until dawn on Friday.
The body, without a head, was recovered close to the island at about 4.30 a.m. Gardai and the search and rescue team carried out follow up searches in the area over the weekend, and the head was found on Saturday.
Chief Supt Michael Carthy, of Ennis Garda station, said there was "a full investigation in place" and the subaqua unit would be called in to complete the search. He said "one of the possibilities" being investigated was that it was Ms Dullard's body, but Dr Harbison would be needed to determine the identity.
A senior officer from the Dullard investigation, based at Baltinglass, Co Wicklow, has travelled to Limerick to discuss the find with local gardai.
The badly decomposed body appears to be that of a woman in her 20s, and may have been in the water for up to 18 months. The remains were described as "more like a skeleton" than a body.
The body was wearing blue Wrangler jeans and a black belt with a "Made in Ireland" logo. There was no clothing on the upper part of the body.
The body may have been in the estuary for months and could have come down the Shannon from almost anywhere along the river according to Garda sources.