Missing teen’s remains found

Gardaí believe human remains found in the Wicklow mountains are those of missing Romanian teenager Mariora Rostas.

It is the second body to have been recovered from the Wicklow and Dublin mountains in just over a fortnight.

An autopsy was being conducted last night to confirm identity and establish the cause of death. It will also try and determine whether or not a sexual assault had taken place.

Gardaí had suspected that Ms Rostas was sexually assaulted by a Dublin criminal and that he shot her dead afterwards.

Ms Rostas was said to have been 18 when she disappeared, but Garda sources said they were not sure of her age.

She disappeared four years ago after she voluntarily got into a car while begging in Dublin’s south inner city on January 6, 2008.

Detectives believe she was taken to a flat in the Coombe area of the south inner city, where she was assaulted.

This house was later set on fire deliberately, probably in an attempt to destroy any forensic evidence. However, forensic experts did find evidence of a gun being discharged in the property.

They also took DNA samples from the house which indicated Ms Rostas had been injured there.

Four people were arrested in relation to her disappearance, but were released without charge.

A major investigation, including searches in the Grand Canal, not far from the house on Brabazon St, was conducted.

As part of this investigation, searches began in west Wicklow on January 11, starting in the Manor Kilbride area of the Sally Gap.

It is understood gardaí had good information that Ms Rostas’s remains were in the general area.

The searches continued over the following two weeks, ending with the find in the Kippure area of the Wicklow mountains yesterday. The remains were wrapped in a plastic bag and buried several feet underground.

Gardaí sealed off the area pending the arrival of experts from the Garda Technical Bureau and Khalid Jabbar, the deputy state pathologist.

Detectives will wait to see if forensic and DNA evidence from the remains and the crime scene provide clues as to suspects.

Garda sources described the main suspect as a “psychotic, volatile” criminal.

Ms Rostas was only in the country for three weeks and lived with her parents and siblings in a derelict house in Donabate, north Dublin.

Meanwhile, gardaí investigating the murder of James Kenny McDonagh, whose remains were found in the Dublin Mountains on January 8, are awaiting the results of forensic and DNA tests.

Last week, they arrested two people described as being on the periphery of the investigation.

Detectives are investigating a number of theories in this murder, including that Mr Kenny was shot dead on the orders of serious criminals from Ballyfermot, west Dublin.