Gardaí in Kerry yesterday said they are putting every resource at their disposal into an investigation into a "brutal" rape of a teenage girl near Tralee at the weekend.
The girl, in her early to mid-teens, was walking alone on the Tralee-Castlemaine road at about 10 p.m. on Saturday night. She was two miles from Tralee, near what is known locally as the S bends. An estate car coming from the Castlemaine direction passed her and, it is believed, turned back and waited at a lay-by until she approached. There a man dragged her into the lay-by where he raped and beat her. The assault was described as "serious" and the girl was hospitalised.
Insp Martin McCarthy of Tralee Garda station said they were looking for a large estate car, about 10 years old, of a similar make to a Mazda 626 or Passat estate, and dark in colour.
The type of car was rare in the Kerry area and was distinctive and should be easily identified, he said. Gardaí were hoping for an early breakthrough in the case.
The victim was discovered by friends who she was on her way to meet. When she had not turned up they went looking for her.
The car may have come from the Dingle or Cahersiveen area or from Farranfore or Annascaul as the road in question accessed a number of different areas.
"This was a nasty, nasty incident. It was a particularly brutal crime. We are putting every resource we have into solving this particularly vicious attack," Insp McCarthy said.
The girl and her family were extremely upset and traumatised by the rape, he added.
Gardaí were appealing to anyone in the area between 9 and 11 p.m. to come forward whether they saw anything or not.
It was quite possible the driver of the car went to a hotel or a pub for a drink afterwards and gardaí were asking people in outlying towns to report if they recall a car of the kind described in hotel car-parks.