GARDAÍ LAST night paid tribute to the many volunteers who helped in the search for a missing 18-year-old University College Cork student whose body was found yesterday at the back of a business premises near Cork city centre.
It is believed that he was injured in a fall while climbing a high wall.
Hundreds of friends and classmates of Caolan Mulrooney had spent the past four days helping gardaí in the search for the first-year engineering student, who went missing in the early hours of Friday morning after going out with friends in Cork city on Thursday night.
His body was found at about 10am at the back of a motorcycle shop on Blue Anchor Lane, off Douglas Street, when the owner went to check his property in response to an appeal by gardaí for people living in the area to check their premises.
The man contacted gardaí, who quickly arrived at the scene. A GP pronounced Mr Mulrooney dead at the scene, before his body was removed to Cork University Hospital for a postmortem examination today by Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster.
Mr Mulrooney’s body was found at the bottom of a 24ft-high wall. Gardaí believe he suffered serious head injuries in a fall from the wall. They don’t believe the death is suspicious.
Gardaí had a confirmed sighting of Mr Mulrooney at Dean Street near St Finbarre’s Cathedral at 1.17am on Friday, and they believe he crossed Barrack Street and began walking along Evergreen Street and Quaker Road, heading towards his home in Rochestown.
They are investigating the possibility he tried to cut down East View Terrace, Quaker Road, thinking it led on to Douglas Street, only to find it was a cul-de-sac, and then tried to climb the wall, which was six-foot high on his side, not realising there was a 24ft drop on the other side.
According to Garda sources, Mr Mulrooney’s body was found between the wall and the back of the motorcycle premises and would not have been easily seen from East View Terrace, as the wall was cloaked with ivy, which obscured the view of the ground immediately beneath.
Mr Mulrooney, a keen sportsman who played rugby, hurling and Gaelic football, is the middle child of five children to parents Eugene and Margaret. He had started college in October after completing his Leaving Cert at Christian Brothers College in Cork in June.