The family of a pensioner who was missing for over two years today visited the site where human remains were found close to where she was last seen.
The discovery in dense undergrowth on the side of Bray Head, Co Wicklow, was made late yesterday afternoon by a local resident. Gardai suspect the find may be linked with missing Alzheimer's sufferer Maura Reynolds (78) who vanished from a local care centre on Christmas night in 2005.
Ms Reynolds' son George and daughter-in-law Priscilla arrived at the scene, at a remote ravine on the side of the headland overlooking the Irish Sea, shortly before the body was removed this morning.
Initial examinations suggest the remains are those of an elderly person, but investigating officers stressed a formal identification had yet to take place.
"The remains have been removed to the Dublin City Coroner's office in Marino were further tests will be undertaken to establish the identity of the person," Superintendent Michael Lernihan of Bray Garda station said.
"From dental records, DNA, forensic anthropology, and from remnants of clothing that are there."
Supt Lernihan added the investigation was at too early a stage to rule out foul play and said they were keeping an open mind.
Ms Reynolds' relatives examined the immediate area but declined to make any comment to waiting media.
Officers from the Garda Technical Bureau along with Deputy State Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis and a forensic anthropologist carried out an examination at the scene earlier this morning.
Ms Reynolds, who was also suffering from cancer, went missing from the care home on Putland Road - less than half a mile from Bray Head - after returning from a family gathering on Christmas Day.
Massive searches around the town's seafront were scaled down almost a month after the disappearance and the elderly pensioner was presumed dead.
Supt Lernihan today said the scene of the find had been searched at the time of the disappearance but highlighted its remote and inaccessible location.
The owners of the care home, Paul and Anne Costello, were fined €2,000 at Bray District Court in January this year after pleading guilty to failing to ensure residents' welfare and wellbeing. Ms Reynolds was originally from Donegal, but lived in Sandyford, Co Dublin, before moving into the nursing home 18 months before her disappearance.
PA