Schoolgirl found dead 'may have been strangled'

A schoolgirl whose remains were found in thick undergrowth just minutes from her home may have been strangled before her body was abandoned, it emerged today.

A team of 80 officers are trying to piece together the final moments of the 12-year-old, named locally as Michaela Davis, whose partially-clothed body was discovered near the Royal Canal in west Dublin yesterday afternoon.

A 19-year-old man who handed himself in to gardaií last night remains in custody on suspicion of being involved in a serious assault.

Although detectives were still awaiting the results of a post mortem examination on the girl, it is suspected she was beaten and strangled.

Her bike has been recovered by investigating officers who sealed off a large area spanning from Michaela’s family home to the crime scene.

Superintendent John Gilligan appealed to nearby residents for help.

“We have a person in custody but we have not pieced together fully what took place and why this happened so in that sense we are looking for people to come forward,” he said.

An elderly man spotted Michaela’s lifeless remains in undergrowth on a steep bank between a commuter rail line and a path that runs along the canal.

A school friend who visited the scene said he was shocked when he heard Michaela was dead.

“She was sound. So funny,” he said.

The victim had started secondary school at Luttrellstown Community College just two days before her tragic death, but it is understood she was hanging around with older teenagers and young adults.

The garda investigation will centre on whether the young girl was vulnerable or exploited by others and will examine her family background.

The schoolgirl had left her home in the Village development off the Porterstown Road in the Blanchardstown area just after midnight on Saturday morning, telling family members she would be back soon.

She was reported missing just over two hours later and her body found shortly before 4pm on Saturday.

Her grief-stricken parents Brendan and Deirdre and her teenage brother are said to be devastated.

Supt Gilligan said it was a very difficult time for the victim’s family, friends and the local community but tried to reassure concerned residents in the Dublin suburb that it was an isolated incident.

“There will be a sense of fear, a sense of tension. But from the point of view of the Gardaí, the community can be assured that everything is being done,” said Supt Gilligan.

“What we want is that anybody with any information, background information, information about what took place Friday night, Saturday, any time in the area of Porterstown bridge, the canal. People were perhaps out walking late, driving late, people driving by.

“Small pieces of information sometimes can assist us with a larger investigation,” he added.

Gardaí carried out door-to-door inquiries throughout the day while members of the water unit searched the canal for evidence which may have been dumped and 25 forensic officers examined the embankment.

“It’s a wide area, it’s a difficult area to search,” said Supt Gilligan. “The area where the young girl was found was a heavily brambled or wooded area running alongside the canal and railway tracks so that takes a bit of time to search properly.

"We have to go into that delicately in order to make sure we find everything that we can possible find.”