Gardaí investigating the murder of Waterford woman Meg Walsh are confident they have made a significant breakthrough.
They have found what they believe is her blood in a key location. A sniffer dog brought from Yorkshire to assist in the investigation detected minute deposits of blood during a search.
The discovery was made by a springer spaniel named Keela, trained specially to detect blood not visible to the human eye.
They have also located the spot where they believe Ms Walsh was killed and dumped in the River Suir and have identified a person seen driving her car after she disappeared.
Gardaí are now inclined to the view that Ms Walsh was killed away from her home at Ballinakill Downs and they believe her body was dumped in the River Suir at Giles Quay on the Ferrybank side of the river.
Gardaí sealed off the disused north wharf of the old port of Waterford, which is directly opposite the clock tower on the south quays where Ms Walsh's body was recovered from the water last Sunday.
A team of specialist sniffer dogs brought in from Wales and Yorkshire have made a number of searches of both banks of the Suir.
Ms Walsh suffered severe trauma injuries to her head and rib cage which gardaí believe may have been inflicted by a blunt instrument, such as a hammer or the back end of a hatchet. It also appears that Ms Walsh suffered a number of broken fingers and other wounds in the fatal assault, suggesting that the 35-year-old mother of one tried to protect herself.
According to an informed source, gardaí have also had considerable success in identifying Ms Walsh's silver Mitsubishi Carisma on a number of CCTV tapes taken from a variety of commercial premises around Waterford.
These tapes show Ms Walsh's Carisma at various times after she was reported missing by a colleague at Meadowcourt Homes at 10am on October 2nd and have helped gardaí make considerable progress in their investigation.
Yesterday at a press briefing, Supt Dave Sheahan of Waterford Garda station confirmed gardaí had succeeded in identifying a person seen driving Ms Walsh's car after she was reported missing.
Questioned by the media, Supt Sheahan said the identification from CCTV footage was a huge help to gardaí, but he admitted it was possible that the person seen driving the car was not the person who killed Ms Walsh.
Supt Sheahan, who is leading the investigation, believes that "Ms Walsh knew her assailant" and he made a direct appeal to that person "to come forward", saying that "when people make tragic mistakes it takes great bravery and courage for that person to put right the wrong they have done".
He said they would be treated with "respect and dignity by An Garda Síochána".
