Gardaí will examine closed circuit TV footage recorded by on-street cameras in Dublin's south inner city early on Tuesday morning in an effort to try and establish how the body of a middle-aged woman was left on a busy street.
Detectives will also check the woman's fingerprints against a database of prints held at the Garda National Immigration Bureau in case the woman entered the State as an asylum seeker. Garda sources last night said mystery still surrounded the dead woman's identity.
A postmortem on Tuesday revealed she died of head injuries consistent with an attack. However, nothing else is known about her, or the circumstances of her death.
The woman's naked body was found wrapped in a duvet, which was tied with rope, on Mercer Street, Dublin, at the back of the St Stephen's Green shopping centre, just after 2am on Tuesday.
It was found by passers-by who were making their way home after a night out in the city centre. The scene was immediately sealed off and a full technical examination was carried out.
Gardaí said a number of people living in a flats complex on Mercer Street heard the screech of car tyres in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Gardaí are considering the possibility that the body was thrown from a passing vehicle. However, sources said this was just one line of inquiry.
The dead woman was 170cm (5ft 7in) in height. She was described as being of medium to heavy build, with long dark hair which was greying. She was not wearing any jewellery and had no distinguishing marks on her body.
While she is described as being Caucasian, it was not clear if she was Irish or a member of the non-national community.
There were no signs that she had been sexually assaulted.
Detectives believe the busy location where the woman's body was found is an unusual area for her killer, or killers, to dispose of a body.
They are working on the theory that the killing was probably not planned and that those who carried it out had no clear plan to dispose of her and may have panicked and opted to dump the body quickly.
Gardaí are satisfied that the woman was killed elsewhere and later taken wrapped in the duvet to the spot where she was found.
Det Supt PJ Brown, who is leading the murder investigation, last night urged people to check if anybody known to them who fits the description of the woman is unaccounted for.
He said a number of people had come forward who were in the Mercer Street area just before 2am on Tuesday who were confident that the body was not at the scene when they passed.
Gardaí are planning to view CCTV footage taken from the streets around Mercer Street. They are also hopeful they may receive a missing person's report in the next day or two which may offer clues to the woman's identity.
In the past when gardaí have failed to establish the identity of a body, they have released a picture of the remains in the hope that a member of the public might recognise the person.
Anybody with information relating to the identity of the dead woman, or the circumstances surrounding her death, is asked to contact Harcourt Terrace Garda station in Dublin on (01) 666 9500.
