FOUR PEOPLE APPEARED in court today in Spain following the discovery of the body thought to be that of missing Carl Carr.

The local Civil Guard force probing the disappearance of 38-year-old Carr, jailed for eight years in December 2008 after he was caught with €1.43 million of heroin and cocaine in Dublin, has so far made no official comment.

Local paper Informacion says the police investigation is a murder probe and the detainees have been accused of different crimes including homicide, illegal weapons possession, extortion, drugs trafficking and concealment depending on the level of their suspected involvement.

The body was found buried by the AP-7 motorway between Benijofar and Algorfa, a 20-minute drive north from where the missing Irishman was last seen.

Investigators are said to be trying to formally identify the man’s identity through DNA tests.

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 behind-closed-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 investigation 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 this morning 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 this week.

“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.

A secrecy order preventing officials from making any official comment – and designed to protect the ongoing criminal investigation in its early stages – is understood to have been placed over the case.

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