Man arrested in connection with murder of Athlone resident

A man has been arrested on suspicion of the murder of Mirjana Pap, the Athlone resident whose body was found in a rural location in South Roscommon on Monday.

In a statement issued shortly before 2pm today (Friday), Gardai leading a murder investigation into the death of the 58-year-old said they had arrested a man in his 30s.

The man "was arrested this morning on suspicion of murder and is currently detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984 at a Garda station in the Meath/Westmeath Division," the Garda statement said.

It added that investigations in the case were ongoing.

On Tuesday, a post-mortem examination was carried out by the Deputy State Pathologist, Dr Yvonne McCarthy, at Galway University Hospital. The results of the post-mortem were not released for operational purposes.

Following the post-mortem, however, Gardai formally announced that they had commenced a murder investigation.

Ms Pap, originally from Croatia, resided in Beechville, Athlone. She was the subject of a missing person appeal last Saturday, and her body was discovered in Carraghaleen, Drum, on Monday.

The murder investigation is being led from the incident room at Athlone Garda Station by members of the Crime Functional Area in the Meath Westmeath Division, under a Senior Investigating Officer (SIO), with assistance from the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (GNBCI).