Acid and red ink ribbon could help identify remains

Acetic acid and a red franking ink ribbon may hold the key to identifying partial human remains discovered in a Dublin recycling plant at the end of July.

The remnants of a spool of the ink ribbon were found among other material adjacent to the remains discovered on July 31 at Thornton’s recycling plant, Killeen Road, Ballyfermot.

The ink ribbon is that used in a SM 26 franking machine. The postmortem examination has determined that the human remains are contaminated with acetic acid.