Family of murdered woman and daughter express their gratitude to the local community in Killorglin for their support

The family of a Lithuanian mother and daughter murdered in their home in Co Kerry at the weekend yesterday expressed their gratitude to everyone who had donated to a fund set up to cover the cost of repatriating their bodies to Lithuania for burial.

A family friend of Jolanta Lubiene (27) and her daughter, Enrika (8), said her husband Marius Lubys and her sister, Kristina Kuleciciene were deeply grateful for the donations, expected to run into thousands of euro, which were made to help pay for bringing their bodies home to Lithuania for burial.

“People have been very supportive and Jolanta’s family are very grateful,” said the woman, who didn’t wish to be named.

Funeral arrangements have not yet been finalised for the popular mother-of-one and her daughter. Over 1,000 people gathered at St James's Church in Killorglin on Wednesday night for a special mass for Ms Lubiene and her daughter.

"Nobody ever thought that such a thing could happen in a small rural friendly town like Killorglin where community spirit is very much in evidence," said community activist Declan Mangan, adding there was a great regard in the town for members of the Lithuanian and Polish communities.

Supt Flor Murphy, heading up the investigation into the murders, said he hoped it would be possible to release the victims' bodies to the family in the coming days.

He discounted media reports that gardaí believed a suspect in the case had fled abroad and said gardaí had “no evidence that anyone had done a runner”.

“We still need help from the public. We’re talking about a very narrow time frame on Saturday afternoon – from around 2.30pm to 5.30pm or 6pm, it was daylight – and we’re asking anyone who saw anything unusual or has any information to contact us in confidence.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact Killarney Garda Station: 064-6671160.