Brother had expected the worst after woman was missing for a fortnight

MARILYN RYNN'S brother Stephen, was understandably reluctant to say much yesterday afternoon. The body of the woman, found a few hours earlier less than half a mile away, had not been formally identified.

Mr Rynn was awaiting the call to go up to the nearby James Connolly Memorial Hospital to make an identification. But he was not hopeful. "We were expecting it, she has been missing for more than a fortnight," Mr Rynn said from his home at Brookhaven Green, just around the corner from his sister's house.

He believed it likely that she took the last Nitelink bus from town at 3 a.m. and got off the bus at Blanchardstown village in the early hours of Friday, December 22nd. Ms Rynn's body was found in wasteland in the Tolka valley on the outskirts of the village.

Mr Rynn, who had spoken on RTE radio during the Christmas holiday, described his sister at the time as a happy, very stable, balanced woman, who would never have gone off without informing her family.

Ms Rynn (40) was a senior executive officer in the Civil Service. She worked for the Department of the Environment at St Martin's House on Waterloo Road. The night she went missing she had attended the staff Christmas party at the Shieling Hotel in Raheny on the north side of the city.

She often looked after her brother's children, enjoyed gardening and was involved with the local Girl Guides. She had also done some travelling. Ms Rynn was not involved in a relationship at the time of her disappearance.

Originally from Ballyfermot, she had bought a semi detached house in Brookhaven Drive, close to her brother. Neighbours near her home did not wish to talk about her, although one woman described her as a "lovely girl".