Schoolgirl found dead in undergrowth may have been strangled

A team of 80 officers was trying to piece together the final moments of the 12-year-old, named locally as Michaela Davis, whose partially-clothed body was discovered near the Royal Canal in west Dublin on Saturday afternoon.

A 19-year-old man who handed himself in to police that night remains in custody yesterday on suspicion of being involved in a serious assault.

Although detectives were still waiting the results of a post-mortem examination on the girl, it is suspected she was beaten and strangled.

Officers who sealed off a large area spanning from her family home to the crime scene recovered her bike.

Superintendent John Gilligan appealed to nearby residents for help.

"We have a person in custody but we have not pieced together fully what took place and why this happened so in that sense we are looking for people to come forward," he said.

An elderly man saw Michaela's body in undergrowth on a steep bank between a rail line and a path that runs along the canal.

A school friend who visited the scene said he was shocked when he heard Michaela was dead. "She was sound. So funny," he said.

The victim had started secondary school at Luttrellstown Community College only two days before her death, but it was understood she hung around with older teenagers.

The police investigation will centre on whether she was vulnerable or exploited by others.

The schoolgirl had left her home in the Village development off the Porterstown Road in the Blanchardstown area just after midnight on Saturday morning, telling family members she would be back soon.

She was reported missing just over two hours later and her body found shortly before 4pm on Saturday.

Her grief-stricken parents Brendan and Deirdre and her teenage brother were said to be devastated.

Supt Gilligan said tried to reassure concerned residents in the Dublin suburb that it was an isolated incident.

"There will be a sense of fear, a sense of tension. But from the point of view of the gardai, the community can be assured that everything is being done," said Supt Gilligan.

Police carried out door-to-door inquiries throughout the day while members of the water unit searched the canal for evidence.