Dublin: Post mortem results awaited after 12-year-girl's death

A post mortem has taken place on the body of a 12-year-old girl after her remains were discovered by the Royal Canal in west Dublin yesterday afternoon.

The post mortem results have yet to be released but Gardaí say the outcome will determine the course of the investigation.

The parents of Michaela Davis had reported her missing in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Michaela had left her home in the Blanchardstown area at around midnight on Friday, telling family members she would be back soon, but never returned.

It is believed she left on her bicycle, which was later found at a different site from that of her body.

Her body was found in thick undergrowth on a steep bank near the Royal Canal in west Dublin yesterday, less than a mile from her home, by an elderly man out for a walk along the canal.

The scene, close to a railway track, is across a piece of waste ground from her home in the modern Village development off the Porterstown Road.

A 19-year-old man, who presented himself to gardaí in Blanchardstown last night, is still being questioned in connection with the death.