A MAN appeared before a special sitting of Sligo District Court last night charged with the murder of 14-year-old Melissa Mahon in September 2006.
Ronnie McManus Dunbar (43), of Rathbraughan Park, Sligo, is accused of murdering the teenager on a date between September 14th and September 30th at the same address.
The court was told that when he was charged with the offence, Mr McManus said he had nothing to say.
He was granted free legal aid and remanded in custody.
A large crowd gathered outside the courthouse prior to the brief hearing just before 9pm.
The accused was arrested at his home on Thursday and then detained and questioned by detectives.
The schoolgirl vanished in 2006. It was at first believed she may have run away and gardaí issued a number of public appeals for her to contact them.
It was thought at the time of her disappearance that Melissa might have gone to England, where the Mahon family had previously lived. The Mahons are originally from Sligo and moved back from London in September 2005.