Gardaí investigating the death of a teenage girl in Kilkenny at the weekend and the discovery of her mother in a collapsed state say they have not yet ruled out foul play in the case.
Senior Garda sources last night told The Irish Times that it would take some time before the full facts came to light but they do not believe the dead girl had suicidal tendencies or suffered from depression.
The postmortem has revealed that Ciara Gibbs (16) died from drowning. It is believed this occurred in the bath, in a bathroom of the family home, where her remains were discovered.
However, the manner of the drowning remains unclear. Gardaí are awaiting the results of toxicology reports to determine if there were traces of any substance in the girl's blood that may have contributed to her death.
However, detectives have not ruled out the possibility that her head may have come into contact with the side of the bath either in the course of a slip and fall or in the course of foul play.
"Despite what any reports have said, so far nothing has been ruled out and we still have a lot of investigating to do on this," one reliable source said. Sources said foul play has "definitely not" been ruled out. The family home remained sealed off by gardaí throughout yesterday.
The girl's mother, psychiatrist Dr Lynn Hutchinson, was found in a collapsed state in the family home at Kilure, Goresbridge, Co Kilkenny.
She had been recovering in St Luke's Hospital, Co Kilkenny, since the weekend but last night was transferred to a private hospital in Dublin.
She has not been in a sufficiently stable mental or physical state to assist gardaí with their investigations.
Dr Hutchinson works as a locum psychiatrist with Carlow-Kilkenny Mental Heath Services. Her husband, Gerard Gibbs, and 14-year-old son, who had been away overnight, returned to the house on Sunday morning to discover Ciara's body.
Gardaí have described the mother's account of events as "crucial" to their investigation. Officers are hopeful that she may be able to provide clues as to her daughter's last moments or the manner in which her remains were found.
Detectives believe any information of that nature could help solve the teenager's unexplained death.
A number of other witnesses are being interviewed. Gardaí have declined to release the results of a postmortem carried out by State Pathologist Prof Marie Cassidy on Monday for "operational reasons".
A Garda spokeswoman said she could not say when the body of Ms Gibbs would be released to her family for a funeral. It is understood the girl's funeral is being planned for Co Tipperary.