A woman found a dead body in the boot of her rental car after stopping to investigate an odd smell.
The corpse is understood to have been the body of a man who rented the vehicle before her.
He was discovered near Mullinavat, a village in county Kilkenny, Waterford, on Monday.
The woman, whom the Irish Mirror reports is in her 20s, made the alarming discovery which was said to be a 'distressing experience'.
The dead man was reported to be 40 years old and came from Waterford, near where the woman stopped and made the discovery.
There had been a Garda appeal about his whereabouts before the body was found in the rental car.
He had been reported missing almost two weeks before he was tragically found dead in the GoCar rental vehicle by the young woman on Monday.
A source close to the family of the woman who made the sad discovery said: “She picked up the car at one of the GoCar depot spots and had just a short drive out to where she was heading, the village of Mullinavat, I’d say around five miles.
“While she was driving she noticed a funny smell, she didn’t know what it was, thought it smelled like gas and thought it might be coming from the car engine when she started the car.
“But it didn’t go away and so she stopped the car when she got to Millivant and that's where she made the shocking discovery, there was the body of a dead man in the boot.
“She was stunned, the gardai were called then and they took it from there.”
Europcar, the parent company of GoCar, was asked if cars were cleaned or valeted between rent-outs, or checked to ensure nothing was left behind by a previous renter.
In a statement the company said: “GoCar is assisting An Garda Síochána with its investigation into the tragic incident that occurred earlier this week in Kilkenny.
“We express our deepest condolences to the loved ones of the deceased at this time.”
GoCar is a self-service car rental company.
The service allows you to rent cars for as little as an hour, using a booking system to reserve the vehicle and in-car technology to unlock the car and drive.
There are more than 800 GoCar cars and vans available to rent across Ireland in most major towns and cities.
The gardai announced on Tuesday that a missing person appeal for the dead man had been stood down.
The original missing persons appeal had been issued on July 8.
If anybody is affected by the issues raised in this report, they can contact Samaritans at 116123 and speak to a Samaritan for support.
