The death of a man whose body was found in undergrowth near a walkway in Mallow, Co Cork, is expected to be upgraded to a murder inquiry.
The body was found at lunchtime on Thursday by a person walking their dog on the banks of the river Blackwater at Ballyellis. The deceased had visible injuries.
Speaking at a graduation ceremony for gardaí in Templemore College, Co Tipperary, on Friday, Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly said he anticipated the case would “be upgraded to a homicide investigation quite soon”.
He said the inquiry had already been given the resources of a homicide investigation pending the outcome of a postmortem at Cork University Hospital (CUH).
“I’d ask anyone, members of the public out there who have any information in relation to it, they should come forward,” he said.
“I would certainly anticipate developments in it in the coming hours and days.”
The body of the man, who was understood to be in his 50s, was removed to the morgue at CUH on Thursday evening following the completion of the examination of the scene by officers from the Garda Technical Bureau. Members of the Garda Water Unit also attended the area.
A postmortem was conducted on Friday at the hospital by Assistant State Pathologist Margaret Bolster.
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It is believed the remains, which were found on the Killavullen side of Mallow, were not in the area for a prolonged period of time. An incident room has been established at Mallow Garda station.
Local Fine Gael councillor Liam Madden said his thoughts were with the relatives of the deceased.
“This poor person. They no doubt have a family. And you would have to think was the body just dumped there?,” he said.
“I don’t know how we are going to combat [such crime]. Too many families are being affected. When you see what was done in Waterford [with the killing of four members of a family] this week, it is just unreal. ”