Detectives investigating the murder of a retired librarian from Strabane, Co Tyrone, were last night continuing to question a man who was arrested at his home in the early hours of yesterday morning.
Mrs Attracta Harron (65) was last seen talking to a male motorist in a lay-by on the outskirts of Strabane as she was walking home after attending morning Mass in Murlog, in the Co Donegal town of Lifford, on December 11th last year. She has been missing ever since.
Following her disappearance, a series of cross-Border searches were carried out by police officers in Tyrone and gardaí in Donegal, assisted by local volunteers, among them canoeists.
However, last month, the police officer in charge of the investigation, Det Insp John Gilmore from Strabane PSNI, said he was satisfied that the missing mother of five had been murdered.
"We do not have a scene of crime or a body but it is a murder investigation and we do have one main suspect," he added.
Yesterday's arrest took place at 7 a.m. at the home of a 21-year-old single man on the outskirts of Sion Mills, about six miles from where Mrs Harron was last seen.
Police officers sealed off the area around the rural house and carried out a search of the house, after which they took away several items for forensic examination. The man can be held in custody for 24 hours.