Garda forensic officers carried out fingertip searches of rubbish bins around the area of Dublin where a murdered African woman was found hidden in a suitcase.
As officers trace the young student’s family, believed to be in Malawi, detectives sifted through wheelie bins beside where the grim discovery was made.
Gardaí confirmed this evening that they had identified the deceased and are in the process of making contact with her family.
Rubbish was removed piece by piece from bins on St David’s Terrace, Blackhorse Avenue, on Dublin’s north side near the Phoenix Park. Gardaí have also been trawling through CCTV footage from local shops in a bid to identify who may have been in the area on Saturday night.
They believe the woman had been strangled or suffocated and her remains walked to the spot where she was dumped beside some wheelie bins.
She had a plastic bag over her head and was fully clothed when found in the hold-all bag. The discovery was made early yesterday.
The Africa Centre, a charity promoting social inclusion of African people in Ireland, condemned the "gruesome" killing of the woman.
"The death of this lady is shocking and dumping her in a suitcase is unimaginable," the centre's chief executive, Eric Yao, said.
Mr Yao appealed to anyone with information about the woman or the circumstances surrounding her death to contact the Africa Centre or gardaí.
The spot where the bag was found is not far from the junction with the busy North Circular Road and is very close to McKee Army Barracks.
Gardaí believe they have established the woman’s identity and that she was a 26-year-old originally from Malawi. Garda sources said it appeared she had been in Ireland for at least two years and was registered as a student with a small educational institution. She had a last-known address at a flat in Rathmines.
While the Garda investigation into her background and circumstances is in the early stages, sources said they have found no evidence of her having a husband or children in Ireland.
The murder investigation is based at the Bridewell Garda station, where a case conference was held yesterday to brief detectives and plan the investigation.
The deceased was wearing jeans, boots, a top and a jacket when found. Gardaí believe she was killed on Saturday, her remains stuffed into the 2ft by 4ft bag and then walked to where she was dumped.
Witnesses have told gardaí they saw the bag as early as 7pm on Saturday but had no idea there was a body inside. The deceased was found at about 8.30am yesterday on St David’s Terrace when a passerby went to investigate the contents of the bag.
When it was opened, the woman’s body was clearly visible and the gardaí were alerted.
A large crime scene was immediately sealed off, with traffic into the area blocked for most of yesterday.
The bag with the remains inside was left untouched by gardaí until Deputy State Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis arrived to carry out a preliminary examination at the scene. When he had completed his examination, the bag with the body still inside was taken to Beaumont Hospital in north Dublin where it was X-rayed.
Garda sources said this was done in order that the investigating team would have a clear record of the positioning of the body in the bag in the event this may somehow aid the investigation at a later date. Then the remains were taken to the State pathology facility in Marino.
A postmortem was carried out there by Dr Curtis yesterday afternoon. While the exact results of that examination had not been released last night, it concluded the woman was either strangled or suffocated.
Gardaí are appealing to anyone who may have seen unusual or suspicious behaviour in and around Blackhorse Ave or North Circular Road on Saturday the 28th January to contact them at the Bridewell Garda Station on 01 6668200, the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111 or any Garda station.
Additional reporting: PA