Gardaí were treating as murder the death of a man whose body was found dumped in undergrowth near the Meath/Dublin border on Sunday afternoon although they were not releasing details of how he died.
Sources last night confirmed the deceased was believed to be from eastern Europe, possibly Lithuania, and said gardaí were focusing their inquiries in a number of areas including west Dublin.
While it is the norm for gardaí to release the preliminary findings of a post-mortem, Supt Charlie Devine, of Ashbourne Garda station, yesterday said that "for operational reasons", they were not doing that in this case and he confirmed that the deceased had still not been positively identified.
A description of the man, estimated to be in his early 30s, was released by gardaí in an effort to identify him and they had not ruled out releasing a picture or photo-fit if necessary.
His body had been dumped but not concealed in undergrowth beside a gate into a field on a back road at Walterstown between Dunboyne and Leixlip.
People commuting to work in the Leixlip/Lucan area frequently use it. A woman out walking on Sunday evening found the body and immediately contacted gardaí. Initial indications are that the man was killed elsewhere and his body dumped maybe 12 to 18 hours before it was found.
It was lying face down and had what appeared to be severe head and arm injuries. Although the shoes had been removed it was otherwise fully clothed. He was wearing a dark navy or black top and similar coloured tracksuit trousers, which had a white stripe down the side. The man had tightly cut brown hair.
Gardaí immediately suspected he was a foreign national and have asked that employers, including those with staff from overseas, check for anyone who was absent without reason.
They had not ruled out the possibility that the deceased was in Ireland to work and did not have any family or close friends with him. "We believe this man was working here and are treating his death as murder," a source confirmed last night.