Woman's death 'suspicious'

Gardaí last night continued to describe the death of a woman whose body was found in Co Kildare as "suspicious", and they renewed an appeal to a man who contacted them last week about the case to get in touch again.

The body of the woman, believed to be in her late teens or early 20s, was discovered by a farmer on Saturday afternoon at a derelict house at Eadestown, between Naas and Blessington.

Gardaí have been reluctant to formally call the investigation a murder inquiry because the post-mortem examination proved inconclusive.

Chief Supt Seán Feely of Naas Garda station told the media it would appear the young woman's body had been dumped at Eadestown as there were no indications of a struggle.

He appealed for anyone in the area who may have noticed "anything of interest" or who might have information to assist the investigation, to come forward.

Supt Feely also appealed for the man who last week phoned gardaí in Dublin about the case to get in touch again as gardaí believe "he has vital information that will assist the investigation considerably".

The woman's remains were found as gardaí appealed for information about a number of women who have gone missing in the past 10 days, including 19-year-old Ms Lynette McKeown, who went missing from her home in Birchwood Heights in Tallaght, Co Dublin, on Friday, August 13th. Ms McKeown is described as 5 feet 4 inches, of thin build, with a fair complexion and long brown hair worn with a fringe. She has blue eyes.

When last seen she was wearing blue jeans, a blue denim jacket and white Nike air max runners, a silver chain and blue loop earnings.

After forensic examination at the scene, the body was removed to Naas General Hospital for a post-mortem examination. It could not be established whether the deceased had been assaulted and further toxicology tests, including those for drugs and poisons, are being undertaken.

It is believed that the length of time the body had been at Eadestown, believed to be some four or five days, has hampered attempts to identify her.

Last Thursday, Ms McKeown's mother, Ms Carol McKeown, appealed on RTÉ radio for her daughter to get in touch. Speaking on the lunchtime news, she said that Lynette, a mother of a two-year-old daughter, had gone to take a bus into town to meet a friend of her partner, but never arrived. She believed her daughter was in good form, because she and her partner had just got a house two months ago. She said that Lynette's two-year-old daughter Kelly was really missing her mother and constantly kissing a photograph of her.