Suspect in murder of missing woman Giedre Raguckaite (29) deported from Ireland

Giedre Raguckaite (29) was last seen alive in May 2018

January 26 2022 12:45 PM

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A MAN who was arrested in prison earlier this month by gardai investigating the suspected murder of a 29-year-old woman in 2018 has been deported from Ireland.

The Eastern European man, understood to be in his 40s, was released without charge after being questioned at a Co Laois garda station for a number of hours on January 10 before being returned to the Midlands Prison later that night.

He was questioned by Dundalk gardaí about the suspected murder of tragic Giedre Raguckaite, who was last seen alive at a house in Laytown, Co Meath, on the night of May 29, 2018 in an unconscious state.

It has now emerged that the suspect, who was serving a number of small sentences for theft offences such as stealing fuel from service stations, was deported from Ireland just days after his arrest.

“A deportation order was put in place for this individual and he has been returned to a country in Eastern Europe,” a senior source said.

“A file will now be prepared for the DPP in relation to the murder and if there is deemed to be enough evidence to charge him, a European Arrest Warrant can be then issued for him.”

Deportation orders are separate to extradition orders. Criminals from another EU country can be sent home if gardaí reasonably believe they will commit further crimes here and are near the end of their sentences.

“It particularly relates to anyone involved in violent crime. If this wasn’t enforced they could walk out of prison and be a threat to society,” a source previously said.

The man who was arrested and then deported is one of two men who gardai believe were in the company of Ms Raguckaite on the night she was last seen.

The other suspect in the case died by suicide last January.

It is suspected that Ms Raguckaite was abducted from Dundalk, Co Louth before being drugged, raped and murdered.

It is understood that some hours after she was brought to Laytown, the men left the property with Ms Raguckaite in a stolen Toyota Landcruiser and no-one has seen her since.

The detailed investigation into the suspected murder has been carried out by officers from Louth and Meath who have been working with police in Lithuania and the UK, where she had lived for a number of years before coming to Ireland.

Gardaí have carried out hundreds of lines of inquiry, including liaising with the PSNI, UK Police Forces, Interpol, the Lithuanian Police Force and the Lithuanian Embassy.

Giedre first arrived in Ireland in early March 2018 and initially took up residence in Drogheda.

She moved to College Heights, Hoey’s Lane, in Dundalk at the end of April 2018.

Gardai previously confirmed that she moved out of that accommodation on May 24, 2018.

The missing person’s case was upgraded to murder in October, 2018.