THE young woman found murdered in a Dublin city centre apartment was bludgeoned to death with a hammer or some other heavy object, a post mortem examination has found.
She is understood to have been one of the increasing number of young prostitutes who are travelling to Dublin to work from city centre apartments, usually for a week at a time.
Gardai were yesterday having difficulty in contacting the dead woman's family. It was known that her mother recently left the London apartment where she lived and returned to Sri Lanka.
The woman, who was in her early twenties, flew to Dublin from Heathrow Airport and was booked to return tomorrow.
Her name was being withheld until the gardai, who are being helped by London police, make contact with a family member.
The dead woman is understood to have worked with two or three other young prostitutes from rented apartments in Dublin city centre.
She was last seen alive at around 10 p.m. on Saturday. Her body was found at 3 p.m. on Sunday. It was found lying in bed. Gardai said she had been subjected to a violent attack and had suffered massive head injuries.
She worked for a brothel owner who advertised "Swedish, Brazilian, Italian and black beauties" available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The woman had worked over the Christmas period from the apartment in Mellor Court, a new development of nine apartments and shops in Liffey Street.
The officer in charge of the investigation, Supt Bill O'Donoghue, yesterday appealed for anyone who visited the apartment block since Christmas or knew anything about the dead woman to contact the incident room in Store Street Garda station.
The telephone numbers are 855 5235 and 855 3322.
Supt O'Donoghue said the gardai particularly wanted anyone who called to apartment 21, in Mellor House to contact the investigators. He said all calls would be treated in the strictest confidence.
Gardai raided the same apartment last month and seized a small amount of cocaine. A man is awaiting trial in connection with this.
Few people in the apartment block or the ground floor shops yesterday knew anything about the activities in apartment 21. One shop owner said the residents kept to themselves.
The dead woman's business, which was advertised in In Dublin magazine, is one of dozens of temporary brothels operating from city centre apartments.
Many of the prostitutes advertise in the back pages of the magazine and give mobile telephone numbers. According to gardai in the city centre, these women are normally only investigated when a complaint is made, usually from a neighbour upset by the frequent late night visits.
Gardai who have arrested women working in such brothels say prostitutes charge clients £120 to £150 an hour.
They pay a portion to the brothel owners who often supply the women with drugs. It is thought the dead woman may have been a cocaine abuser.
There was no answer yesterday from the mobile telephone number given for her. It is understood that calls to the mobile telephone in the apartment are being traced by detectives.