Gardaí yesterday found the rest of the remains of a 41-year-old Cork man near where his skull was discovered earlier this week. William O'Brien had been missing from his home at Boherascrub, Buttevant, since April 2002.
Gardaí believe his body had been caught 60-feet high in the branches of a giant fir tree at Tullig, Buttevant, since the time he disappeared.
Extensive searches were carried out around Buttevant by gardaí and civilians at the time he was reported missing.
The area where the remains were found is approximately three miles by road, and about a mile and a half cross-country, from where he was last seen near his home. Gardaí said that it had not been included in the original search area.
"There was an extensive search carried out at the time involving sniffer dogs and divers but this area wasn't included. He was so high up the tree and caught in such dense foliage that it would have been very difficult to see him from ground level," said one garda.
This week's search operation started after Mr O'Brien's skull was found in a field on Wednesday.
Yesterday's discovery came as a team of 25 Garda searchers from north Cork, Cork city, west Cork and Limerick were about to call off their search of the field and move to an adjacent area.
The gardaí had begun searching the field at first light and had spent over eight hours combing the area without success when they discovered what they believed was a bone close to a boundary ditch.
They were still searching in the area when some officers looked up and spotted what looked like a dark object high in the branches of a fir tree.
One of the gardaí climbed up the tree to investigate and discovered the remains inside some clothing.
Gardaí then decided to preserve the scene overnight to allow equipment to be brought in today to remove the remains.It is believed Mr O'Brien's skull fell from the tree some time ago and was brought into a more open part of the field by a fox or or a dog. It was discovered on Wednesday by the owner of the land as he walked through the field which has not been actively farmed for some time.
According to Supt Barry McPolin of Mallow Garda station, Mr O'Brien's family was kept appraised of developments.
He said that yesterday's discovery has brought them "some form of closure".
Mr O'Brien's remains are due to be brought to Cork University Hospital today for a postmortem by Dr Margaret Bolster. She confirmed his identity on Thursday when she examined the skull and checked it with his dental records
Gardaí are awaiting the full results of that examination before concluding their investigation into Mr O'Brien's disappearance.
However, at this stage, investigating officers are satisfied that there was no foul play involved in his death, according to Supt McPolin.
