Body found in search for missing Filipino student Jastine Valdez

Irish police started searching for Jastine Valdez, who had relocated to Ireland three years ago, after a woman matching her description was seen being bundled into a car on Saturday evening.

Ireland's national police -- the Gardaí -- confirmed to CNN that the body of a woman had been located but that it had not yet been formally been identified. In the same statement, police also asked for privacy for the woman's family.

Valdez was last seen leaving her home in Enniskerry, a sleepy, picturesque tourist village close to the Wicklow Mountains on Saturday afternoon to go to work in the nearby seaside town of Bray, according to local media reports.

That evening, an eyewitness reported seeing a female pedestrian matching Valdez's description being bundled into a vehicle shortly after 6:15 p.m. while walking towards her home from a bus stop on a quiet, tree-lined road outside the village.

Later that night, Valdez's family reported her as missing to authorities.

Search teams were called to the area, including a police helicopter and members of the Defence Forces and Civil Defence, Ireland's national broadcaster RTÉ reported.

On Sunday, after releasing a car registration plate to the public in connection with the abduction, a matching vehicle was spotted close to Enniskerry in a business park south of Dublin by member of the public.

Shortly after, the driver of the car, who produced a knife, was shot dead by police who were deployed to the scene. The shooting of a suspect by a police officer is a highly unusual occurrence in Ireland where Gardaí do not routinely carry firearms.

On Monday, police told the media that they found the body of a woman about six miles away from the location of the reported abduction near a disused lead mine in Rathmichael, south Dublin.

Her abduction has caused shock and distress within the Filipino community in Ireland, according to local media reports.