LATEST: Murder investigation launched following discovery of woman's body in Roscommon
Mirjana Pap, 58, was last seen in Athlone, County Westmeath in the early hours of Saturday morning
A murder investigation has been launched following the discovery of a body on farmlands in County Roscommon earlier this week.
The body of 58-year-old Mirjana Pap was discovered in a remote area at Curraghaleen, around 10km outside Athlone on Monday afternoon. She was last seen in the town in the early hours of Saturday and was the subject of a missing person appeal over the weekend.
Investigations have been ongoing since and in an update, issued this New Year's Eve, gardai confirmed the investigation has now been upgraded.
"A post-mortem examination was carried out earlier today by the Deputy State Pathologist, Dr Yvonne McCarthy, at Galway University Hospital. The results of the post-mortem are not being released for operational purposes.
The deceased has now been formally identified as Mirjana Pap and following a post-mortem examination, An Garda Síochána has commenced a murder investigation," said a spokesperson.
The investigation is being led from an incident room at Athlone garda station by members of the Crime Functional Area in the Meath Westmeath Division under a Senior Investigating Officer, with assistance from the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
Earlier on New Year's Eve, investigating gardai said they are particularly interested in establishing the movements of a silver 08G-registered Peugeot 207 (similar to below).
The timeframe in question relates to the period between 11am and 12 midday on Saturday, December 28.
Any motorists who travelled along these routes within this timeframe are asked to provide gardaí with dash-cam footage.
Anyone with any information is asked to contact Athlone garda station on 090 649 8550, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any garda station.
Mirjana Pap, who is originally from Croatia, had been living and working in the Athlone area for a number of years.