Man arrested in missing girl probe

A 43-YEAR-OLD man has been arrested by gardaí investigating the disappearance of a teenage girl in Sligo.

The man is being held at Sligo Garda Station under section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act.

14-year-old Melissa Mahon disappeared from her home at Rathbraughan Park in Sligo town in September 2006.

On February 1 this year, gardaí investigating her disappearance began an extensive search of Lough Gill.

They were acting on information and after almost two weeks they discovered skeletal remains, which were taken away for analysis.

Gardaí got a tip-off that the girl’s body was in a location in the northern side of the lake near Dromohair in Co Leitrim.

Gardaí have not revealed the results of the tests carried out on the remains recovered from Lough Gill.

However, it is understood the tests positively identified the remains as those of the missing girl.

The location where the remains were found is 7km from her home.

Melissa has not been seen since she vanished from the Old Bundoran Road in Sligo town. She had returned from London to live in Sligo with her parents Freddie and Mary Mahon five years ago.

Melissa was one of 10 children and some of her brothers and sisters are living in London.

At the time of Melissa’s disappearance, Ms Mahon told the local media she had brought Melissa and some of her large family back to Ireland because London was becoming too dangerous.

A man living in Sligo, and not related to Melissa, has given interviews to the Sligo Weekender and another national newspaper denouncing local rumours that he is connected to Melissa’s disappearance and that he was having a sexual relationship with the teenager.

It is understood his daughter became friendly with the teenager since she moved to Sligo.