Body of woman found in Kilkenny identified

Gardaí have identified an African woman whose badly decomposed remains were found wrapped in black plastic bags at a south Kilkenny riverbank last Friday morning.

She was Ms Paiche Onyemaechi, a 25-year-old mother of two from Malawi.

Ms Onyemaechi had been reported missing from her Waterford home about three weeks ago. She had been in Ireland around four years, having entered the State as an asylum seeker. Gardaí established her identity yesterday evening after finger prints taken from her remains were cross checked with a database of prints from asylum seekers held by the Department of Justice and Garda National Immigration Bureau.

Gardaí do not believe she was killed on the banks of the river Pil, Piltown, where her remains were found.

While the investigation is being conducted out of Clonmel Garda Station and involves officers from GNIB and the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation it is expected that gardaí will now begin to focus on the Waterford area and interview the dead woman's relatives friends, and associates.

However, a likely murder scene has not yet been identified, according to a number of well-placed Garda sources.

Ms Onyemaechi had been living with her Nigerian husband in Waterford. It was he who reported her missing. Gardaí travelled to Waterford last night to inform him that the dead woman was his wife. Officers were also trying to contact the victim's family in Africa. This was being done with the assistance of Interpol.

The dead woman's remains were found just before noon on Friday by a woman out walking her dog, who first spotted a foot protruding from black plastic bags. Gardaí have confirmed the victim died a very violent death. Her head was detached from her body when she was found and she had a number of other injuries suggesting a brutal assault.