Thirty gardai in Cork joined the search at the weekend for a man who broke into the home of an elderly women and tied her up, leading to her death from heart failure brought on by stress.
Ms Margaret Murphy (74) lived at Barratt's Buildings, Gurranabraher, from where she ran a newspaper vending business.
She was found on the floor of the house with her hands tied together after a 12-year-old boy noticed her front door ajar at 10 p.m. on Saturday.
Ms Murphy lived with her nephew, Mr Anthony Kelleher, who was at a wedding at the time. i arrived some 20 minutes later but the woman was already dead. Supt Patrick Sheahan, who is leading the investigation, has appealed to people who saw anything unusual to come forward.
A team from the Garda Technical Bureau carried out a detailed examination of the ransacked house, and one theory is that whoever broke in may have assumed that money was kept there.
It is understood that no money was found.
A post-mortem examination was carried out by the assistant State Pathologist, Dr Margaret Bolster.
More detailed results are expected to be available today.
While the Garda said there were no visible marks on the body, Ms Murphy is thought to have died from natural causes which were stress-related.
Ms Murphy had recently been admitted to hospital after collapsing at home, but had subsequently discharged herself.