A full-scale investigation involving the State Pathologist, Dr Marie Cassidy, and members of the Garda Technical Bureau got under way in Co Mayo last night following the earlier discovery of a man's body on the outskirts of Castlebar.
The body was in a decomposed condition, indicating it had lain at the rear of a house in the Saleen area, about one mile from the town centre on the Ballinrobe road, for several weeks.
The remains were found by a local person at about 11am, at the rear of an unoccupied house. Gardaí were alerted and the area was sealed off.
Senior gardaí in Castlebar were reluctant to go into detail about the discovery of the body yesterday, except to say the circumstances were "suspicious". A spokesman for Chief Supt Tony McNamara, head of the Mayo Garda Division, would not comment on reports that the body had been partly hidden.
Unofficial reports last night said the man who died was in his 30s. The body was found close to an apartment complex known as Tara Court, about half a mile from Castlebar railway station.