THE neighbour who discovered the body of murdered French-film producer Sophie Toscan du Plantier almost 30 years ago has died.

Shirley Foster, who was in her early 90s,  previously lived in Toormore with her late partner Alfie Lyons and was a close neighbour of Sophie.

She passed away peacefully at her home in Ballydehob on Wednesday (June 3rd) and will be sadly missed by her daughter Gilly, sisters Jane and Pam.

Shirley was the first person to come across Sophie's body on the morning of December 23rd 1996.

She spotted the 39-year-old film producer's body by the entrance to the French woman's holiday home.

She was a key witness into Sophie's murder investigation. She also gave evidence in court during Ian Bailey's libel trial against several newspapers in 2003.

The unsolved murder of Du Plantier led to the Garda Serious Crime Review Team in 2021 to carrying out a cold case review of all aspects of the case.

Former art teacher Shirley, who was originally from the UK. moved to Schull following the death of Alfie in 2021 and later moved to Ballydehob.

Her cremation took place in the Island Crematorium in Ringaskiddy last Saturday while a gathering of her friends and family gathered to celebrate her life that evening in Levis' Bar in Ballydehob.