Woman’s body dumped in refuse bag

GARDAÍ are expected to launch a murder investigation following the discovery of the badly decomposed remains of a woman, thought to be of African origin, wrapped in plastic.

The discovery under a stone bridge off a byroad on the borders of Kilkenny, Waterford and Tipperary was made by a female passerby and her sister just before noon yesterday.

Local woman Edna Oakey was out for a walk with her sister and contacted gardaí when they saw the body, with red-painted toenails, which appeared to have been thrown over the remote bridge near Piltown in south Kilkenny.

The body of the dark-skinned woman was partially concealed inside a large, black refuse bag which appears to have been dumped over the bridge into the shallow stream below. The scene is two miles from Piltown in South Kilkenny, in an area known locally as Breanor Bridge.

The scene, which lies a short distance from the road and less than 200 metres from the local GAA grounds on the Templeorum Road, was immediately preserved, pending the arrival of the Garda Technical Bureau and State Pathologist last night.

“We are treating this death as highly suspicious. The body has been removed now to Waterford Regional Hospital for further examination. The body could have been on site here for a number of weeks and it would be difficult to establish the facts on site,” said Supt Michael Devine of Clonmel, who is leading the investigation.

A one-and-a-half mile stretch of road from Jamestown Cross to Richardstown Cross was immediately closed to motorists after the body was found.

Gardaí confirmed there are no reports of missing persons in the area.

The quiet parish of Piltown, near Carrick-on-Suir in Co Tipperary, has been stunned by the tragedy.

It is an area which has been marred by tragedy in the past few weeks, with four people from surrounding parishes dying in traffic accidents on the notorious Piltown to Fiddown bypass, which was developed just two years ago and links parts of south Tipperary, Kilkenny and Waterford.