Search casts pall over tourist hotspot

TOURISTS flock to Powerscourt Estate for the beautiful scenery – but yesterday several were seen walking up to a Garda cordon, asking about the abduction of Jastine Valdez.

The area is popular with tourists coming to see the Powerscourt Estate gardens and visit the town of Enniskerry.

It’s a popular Sunday visitor site for walkers and drivers, but yesterday it was clouded by a macabre search. Tourists and locals out for a Sunday stroll approached gardaí at the cordoned-off section of the R760 opposite St Patrick’s Church to ask what was going on.

Gardaí appealed to them for information while searching a section of the road close to where the young woman was kidnapped.

The country lane is lined with stone walls, flanked by thick foliage and towering trees which form a dense canopy above the road.

The area is well kept and potted plants mark the entrance to the church car park, which sits diagonally across from the local national school.

It was there, while walking on a narrow rural footpath, that Ms Valdez was bundled into a car in a matter of seconds.

The 5ft-tall victim was no match for the burly man who grabbed her and shoved her into the back of his jeep.

Yesterday, the lane was cordoned off with white and blue tape. Officers dressed in navy uniforms and wearing plastic blue gloves walked five abreast down the road – scanning the surface below. The search for Ms Valdez continued last night.

Visitors inquired about abduction