GARDAI are treating as suspicious the death of a man in his forties whose body was found in a caravan park in Bundoran, Co Donegal, yesterday afternoon. The man is believed to be from Northern Ireland but by late last night he had not been formally identified.
His body was discovered face down outside a caravan on the site. He suffered head wounds and according to gardai there was also evidence of bruising on his legs. It is thought that he may have arrived in the locality on Monday.
Supt Michael Duffy of Bundoran Garda Station, who is leading the investigation, said last night there appeared to have been an assault in a caravan near the entrance gate of the park.
He could not say whether the caravan was being lived in at the time, but there was considerable damage to the mobile home and there was also blood stains in the caravan.
Supt Duffy said there were drag marks outside the caravan and the likelihood is that the man's body was dragged away from the vehicle where the assault took place.
He was discovered a number of yards from the caravan at about 2.30 p.m. by two local men who were walking through the park. The park is normally unoccupied at this time of year and is used mainly during the holiday season.
The caravan park, one of the largest in Donegal, is near the town centre. There is access to it by a short lane way from Station Road, which is the main street.
The scene has been preserved for examination by the State pathologist, Dr John Harbison, who is expected to arrive in Bundoran this morning along with other forensic scientists. Gardai have completely covered one caravan and partially covered another to keep the scene intact. The man's body, still face down at the caravan park, will not be removed until an initial examination.
Last night house to house inquiries were being carried out in the area as part of the investigation. Supt Duffy said he did not know if there was any paramilitary connection with the incident.
If the man was identified it would help them to establish whether there were any such connections.
Gardai refused to speculate on possible causes of the man's death. "We don't even know how he died," said Supt Duffy. Gardai therefore "wouldn't even speculate" on the cause of, the man's death, but were awaiting the outcome of the State pathologist's post mortem.