A nationwide manhunt was continuing on Wednesday night as part of the investigation into the murder in Co Kerry of American citizen and mother of one Jamey Carney (43).
Gardaí believe the man they are looking for, who is from the Middle East, had befriended her and has information to share that would help them solve her violent death.
Though alerts had been issued to ports and airports in the event the man being sought tried to leave the Republic, concerns are growing that he has still not been found. His social media accounts had also been locked on Wednesday night.
Because Jamey Carney was a US citizen, and the man being sought is from the Middle East and has permission to remain permanently in Ireland, gardaí are concerned the killing may be taken up by the US far right and political figures intent on stirring racial tensions in the Republic.
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Jamey Carney, who had a 13-year-old daughter, suffered head injuries in the fatal attack that occurred on Monday night or in the early hours of Tuesday morning at her home in the Muckross Road area of Killarney.
The entrance to the estate of eight houses remained sealed off by gardaí on Wednesday morning, with the victim’s remains removed via hearse at 11.15am to University Hospital Kerry for a postmortem examination.
As the alarm was not raised until lunchtime on Tuesday, when a concerned relative of the victim called to the house and found her remains, the man gardaí wish to speak to may have already travelled a considerable distance.
The dead woman was originally from Westchester County, north of New York City, and moved to Killarney in 2021. It is believed that two of her grandparents were from Co Kerry.
Last night, gardaí said a postmortem examination had been completed by State Pathologist Dr Linda Mulligan, and the inquiry had “now been upgraded to a murder investigation”.
The scene remained preserved on Wednesday night and a technical examination was continuing. Gardaí and paramedics attended the scene at the house on Tuesday, where Jamey Carney was pronounced dead a short time later.
The Garda investigation team has also been in contact with the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) in the event the man being sought has crossed the Border in a bid to leave Ireland, possibly to the UK.
The woman lived in a rented house with her 13-year-old daughter in the new-build Homeland estate.
The man she befriended is in his 20s and has lived in the Killarney area for more than a year. She was employed by a healthcare consulting company and was well known and liked in the local community.
Her father died 11 months ago. Her mother and sister still live in the United States. She had worked in Tralee for RelateCare for the last 4½ years. A family liaison officer has been appointed to assist the family.
A senior officer has been appointed to lead the investigation. An incident room has been established at Killarney Garda station.
Local Independent councillor Martin Grady described Jamey Carney as a “loving mother of her child who as always smiling. She made Killarney her home.”
