Gardai 'satisfied' body that of missing Cork schoolboy

A post mortem examination is still ongoing in Cork University Hospital on the body of 11-year-old Robert Holohan, who went missing from his home in Midleton more than one week ago.

Robert left home on his BMX last Tuesday week

Supt Kevin Donohoe of the Garda Press Office told a press conference in Midleton tonight that while they have yet to formally identify the body found at Inch beach in east Cork yesterday, they are "satisfied" that the body is that of Robert.

While the cause of death have not been established, Supt Donohue said "you can safely assume that we are investigating a murder." Robert disappeared after leaving his home at Ballyedmond near Midleton on his BMX bike, which he got as a Christmas present, on the afternoon of January 4th.

The body was found fully-clothed at lunchtime yesterday in a quiet, overgrown glen of briars and thick scrub leading to Inch Strand, 11 miles from Robert's home, by volunteers searching for him.

It is believed the focus of the search moved to the area after signals from his mobile phone were used to help pinpoint the location. Gardai confirmed this evening that Robert's phone had been found with him.

A team of 50 detectives investigating the case are understood to be following a number of lines of inquiry. Assistant Garda Commissioner Tony Hickey said they had a list of around 30 suspects they wished to identify, locate and interview with a view to ruling them out of the inquiry.

Detectives are particularly interested in three vehicles seen in the Ballyedmond area. House-to-house searches have also been conducted in the area.

Gardaí said tonight they are anxious for information about a number of vans and cars that were seen on the day Robert disappeared. They have also appealed for anyone who used the East Cork Golf Club that day to contact them. They want to speak to two men who paid green fees that day, but did not register at the club.

People who have holiday homes or mobile homes in the Inch area have been asked to check them and anyone who walked along Inch beach in the past few days is asked to contact the gardaí.

According to Garda sources, the fact that the body was found in a secluded area tends to suggest that it was dumped there by somebody with local knowledge.

Although the investigation into Robert's disappearance was classified as a missing person investigation, from as early as January 5th gardaí had been considering a possible abduction. Detectives began visiting convicted and registered sex offenders in the east Cork area last Thursday and over the past weekend, they broadened these enquiries to registered and convicted sex offenders throughout Cork city and county.

Supt Donohoe said this morning that investigating gardaí were still trying to trace a large number of people. "In respect to any investigation from day one there will be dozens and dozens of names in any investigation," he said.

"There are a large number of people that from Tuesday last week we were trying to track down. The vast number of those we have. A huge amount of those we are tracing for witness purposes and elimination purposes.

"But having said that there's obviously going to be names in every investigation that need further examination. And of course there are names in this investigation that we are looking at closely," he said.

"We're trying to avoid speculation, stick to what we know, and from our point of view whatever the evidence backs up is the position that we'll adopt.

"From day one we've been looking for a number of vehicles. As with people we are looking for there are still vehicles that we are trying to trace," Supt Donohoe said.

It's understood that detectives spoke to more than 50 people with sex offence convictions and it is expected that officers will revisit many of these over the coming days after receiving post-mortem details.

Gardaí have discounted any link between the discovery of the body and the recovery of the body of a man who was known to have had a history of psychiatric illness from the Owenacurra River in Midleton town yesterday afternoon.