Gardaí are continuing to question a 45-year-old man in relation to the discovery of a woman’s remains in the boot of a car in west Dublin.
The badly decomposed remains of the woman found were confirmed as those of missing 30-year-old mother of one Helen Donegan.
She had been missing for almost seven weeks, and was last seen at her home in St Patrick’s Park, Celbridge, Co Kildare, on the morning of May 6th.
Gardaí feared for Ms Donegan’s safety from the time she was reported missing by her partner and had carried out a number of searches.
On Tuesday evening, they searched a lock-up in a transport yard at Kilmactalway, Aylmer Road, just outside Newcastle in Co Dublin.
Gardaí found Ms Donegan’s badly decomposed body in the boot of a silver grey Saab estate car. A postmortem revealed she had been shot once in the chest.
Ms Donegan’s remains were so badly decomposed that DNA tests and dental records were used to identify her.
Gardaí are examining a legally-held shotgun that was surrendered to them at about the time Ms Donegan, a drug user and the mother of a 12-year-old boy, was reported missing.
Gardaí believe she was killed about the time she was reported missing, and that her remains were put into the boot of a blue Seat estate, which was stored in a garage in Co Kildare for a number of weeks. The remains were then moved to the boot of the Saab, which was locked away in a second unit in Co Kildare.
The man was arrested in Clondalkin on Tuesday and can be held for up to seven days.
Gardaí have appealed for anyone who may have seen the cars at about the time of Ms Donegan’s disappearance to contact them. They are also appealing for information from anyone who saw unusual activity around Ms Donegan’s home between May 4th and May 17th.
Detectives also want to speak to people who saw anything unusual at the transport yard and lock-up.
Members of the Garda Technical Bureau have carried out testing at the lock-up where the remains were found and at the second Kildare garage where the body was stored for a time.