Foul play ruled out in death of grandmother

Gardaí have ruled out foul play in the death of Peggy Mangan, the grandmother whose body was found at the weekend, four days after she went missing while out walking her dog.

The exact cause of her death will not be revealed, however, until after a full report is completed from a postmortem carried out yesterday.

Her remains were found on Saturday morning in a field near Ballymun on the northside of Dublin City, some distance from her home on the southside, as hundreds of volunteers were preparing to resume a search for her.

Ms Mangan, 65, who had Alzheimer’s, disappeared from her house on Mount Tallant Avenue in Terenure after going out for her daily walk with her spaniel, Casper, last Tuesday morning.

Her family were immediately concerned for her as she never ventured far outside her local area, was frail and required medication.

Gardaí quickly issued a missing persons alert and family members used social media to appeal to the public to look out for her in a campaign which resulted in numerous reports of sightings, including one at the Charlestown Shopping Centre in Finglas, which led to the search of the nearby lands at Ballymun.

Ms Mangan’s beloved dog was found waiting beside her body when she was discovered, but the 10-year- old pet had been without food and water for some time and died shortly afterwards.

A large area close to the Ikea complex at Ballymun Rd remained sealed off yesterday morning as gardaí carried out a technical search at the scene of the discovery.

Floral tributes left nearby paid tribute to Ms Mangan. A note pinned to one bouquet said: “Peggy may you be in a warm, safe and happy place. Loved and adored by your family, cared for by so many who never knew you. Deepest sympathies.” Another card read: “Heaven has a new angel, Peggy. you captured the hearts of so many people. May you rest in peace.”