Post mortem to take place tonight on body found in Wicklow Mountains

A post mortem examination is to take place this evening on unidentified remains found in a forest in the Wicklow Mountains.

Gardaí acting on a tip-off unearthed the remains after more than 10 days of intensive searching on land close to the Kippure estate and the Sally Gap.

Detectives believe the decomposed body is that of Marioara Rostas, 19, from the Roma community, who was last seen sitting in a car at traffic lights in Dublin city centre in January 2008.

She was presumed kidnapped and murdered by a notorious Dublin criminal and associates.

The plastic bag containing the human remains was discovered in a grave a few feet deep during the latest in a series of digs on land outside Manor Kilbride.

Ms Rostas was reported missing by her parents on January 9, 2008 after her younger brother was the last person to see her alive.

She and her brother were begging at traffic lights at the junction of Lombard and Pearse Street in Dublin city centre, before Ms Rostas got into a car by herself with a man.

Gardaí are not confirming if the body - which has been removed from the scene - is that of a man or a woman.

The body has been removed to the morgue at Tallaght Hospital - where a post mortem examination will be carried out later this evening.