A 15-year-old girl found dead in a Dublin guesthouse yesterday had been missing since July 28th when she left a residential care centre where she had been staying.
The teenager was taking part in a work-experience programme while she stayed at the South Western Area Health Board centre. But when residential care staff arrived to collect her from her workplace on July 28th, she could not be found.
A spokeswoman at the Garda Press Office said the girl had not been listed officially as a missing person, but a SWHB spokeswoman said the board had been in close contact with gardai and her family since the girl's disappearance.
She died of a suspected drugs overdose some time between Wednesday night and Thursday morning.
The girl's body was found in an upstairs room in the Pillar B & B on Talbot Street in Dublin city centre at 7 a.m. yesterday.
An emergency call from the guesthouse alerted Dublin firefighters who were joined by gardai from the nearby Store Street station at 7.15.
The girl was taken to the Mater Hospital where she was pronounced dead on arrival.
The post-mortem was carried out yesterday afternoon, but gardai did not expect details to be released last night. In the case of a drugs overdose, a toxicology report is ordered, but the Garda Press Office could not confirm if this was being carried out.
The girl's name or details will not be released by gardai, at the request of her relatives.
It is understood the girl was from the south side of the city and had only recently arrived at the Talbot Street guesthouse.
Sources familiar with the girl's background said she had behavioural problems which had become very difficult to manage in recent years.
The girl had been in care in Co Kildare for a period, and had also been in contact with several social workers before her disappearance.
The man who was with her when she died is believed to have been staying at the guesthouse for some time.
The man, who is understood to be in his 20s, was questioned by gardai yesterday morning and was later released.
The Pillar B & B carried a sign on the door saying no rooms were available yesterday. A man speaking on behalf of the guesthouse said he had no comment on the girl's death.
"That's all I'll say. Go up to the Store Street station or talk to the Eastern Health Board," he said.
