THE BODY of a homeless woman found in an alcove outside the basement of an unoccupied building in Limerick City Centre on Tuesday morning has been identified as that of 31 year-old Louise Casey.
The grim discovery was made shortly before noon at an apartment block on Catherine Street where Ms Casey’s body was found lying on a mattress in the alcove outside the basement.
Gardaí from Henry Street were contacted by a relative who had gone to check on Ms Casey. A native of Limerick’s northside and known as ‘Bubu’, she had become estranged from her home and was living rough in the city for around two years.
Superintendent Derek Smart, who is leading the Garda investigation into Ms Casey’s death, said they were not treating the death as suspicious. While temperatures dropped to zero degrees on Monday night, Superintendent Smart said that exposure to the elements was not being considered as the sole cause of death.
“We are reviewing CCTV footage from the previous two days to track the woman’s movements and are appealing to members of the public for assistance,” he said.
The Garda appeal comes after it emerged that the latest figures from the Department of Housing indicated there were 62 children and 217 adults living in emergency accommodation in Limerick in September.
The Department’s figures are in contrast to those supplied to city councillors two weeks ago, which claimed there were just 25 children in bed and breakfast accommodation and only one person sleeping on the streets.
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The area where the body was discovered was sealed off for technical examination and on Tuesday afternoon, Ms Casey’s remains were taken to University Hospital Limerick for a post mortem examination.
The office of the coroner was also notified.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Henry Street Garda Station on 061-212400 or on the garda confidential line 1800 666 111.
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