Sunday Independent (Ireland)

Missing man found buried beside Costa motorway

Four in court after discovery of shallow grave

- Gerard Couzens

FOUR people appeared in court yesterday in Spain following the discovery of a body believed to be that of missing Dubliner Carl Carr.

Carr, a convicted drug dealer originally from Casino Park in Marino, had been living in Spain for a number of years and went missing following a dance event in the Costa Blanca resort of Cabo Roig near Torrevieja on September 16 last.

His mother Marie Carr, from Dublin, said Spanish detectives told her yesterday the man they found buried near a Costa Blanca motorway was her 38-year-old son. “We are heartbroke­n,” she said.

One theory is that his murder may be linked to a personal dispute rather than a gangland feud.

His body was discovered beside a highway between Benijofar and Algorfa around 30km from where he was last seen.

Court sources confirmed the investigat­ion was being treated as a murder or homicide probe and the four suspects — two men and two women — had been remanded in custody following a behindclos­ed-doors court appearance in the Costa Blanca resort of Torrevieja.

The source said: “Two men and two women have appeared at Torrevieja Court of Investigat­ion Number Two this morning. They have been remanded in custody pending an ongoing investigat­ion.

“The investigat­ion is being treated at this stage as a homicide or murder probe.

“The man suspected of being the material author was among the four that appeared in court.

“The other three are being investigat­ed on suspicion of concealmen­t, although one of the women is also under investigat­ion on suspicion of illegal weapons possession.

“A fifth person, a woman, also appeared in court after being interviewe­d by police and she was released but remains under investigat­ion.”

No details on the nationalit­ies of the detainees, believed to be British and Irish, were revealed.

Another well-placed source said: “The court appearance­s followed the discovery of a body.

“The victim is believed to be an Irish national who disappeare­d last September.”

The court investigat­ion stemming from Carl Carr’s disappeara­nce was initially led by a court in the nearby town of Orihuela.

But local reports said it was moved to Torrevieja, a 40-minute drive east on the Costa Blanca, because investigat­ors suspected that is where the killing took place.

The suspected killer is also understood to be under investigat­ion for extortion as part of a separate court probe which is still being led by the court in Orihuela.

Preliminar­y court appearance­s always take place in private in Spain. Only trials are open to the press and public.

Carr moved to Spain after serving an eight-year sentence in Ireland following a €1.4m heroin and cocaine seizure in 2008.

He was a close associate of Kenneth Finn who was shot dead in Coolock, north Dublin, last year.

Both men had links to the north Dublin crime boss known as Mr Big.

Several associates of Mr Big are based in Spain where they help arrange drug shipments to Ireland.

 ??  ?? INVESTIGAT­ION: Carl Carr went missing last September
INVESTIGAT­ION: Carl Carr went missing last September

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