Updated at 9.08pm

THE BODY OF missing Peggy Mangan has been found close to the Ballymun Road in north Dublin this afternoon.

The discovery was made at around 3.30pm down a shallow gully at a stretch of waste ground close to the Ikea store by two men who were taking part in a large-scale search for the 65-year-old.

Peggy – who suffered from Alzheimer’s - had been missing from her home in Terenure since Tuesday morning. She left the south Dublin suburb along with her King Charles Cavalier dog, which was found found alive by the volunteers next to its owner this afternoon.

Hundreds of volunteers taking part in the search were informed via text shortly afterwards that the effort was being stood down, and that the matter was being handed over to gardaí.

There were a number of sightings of Peggy in the Finglas and Glasnevin areas in recent days, and today’s search was being coordinated from the DID Electrical store in Clearwater, where volunteers gathered to lend their help from 10am.

Leaflet drops were also organised in the area, and posters have been placed on lampposts all over the city in recent days.

Gardaí say the body has now been removed to the City Morgue in Store Street and the Office of the State Pathologist has been notified.

The area where the body was found has been sealed off for forensic tests.

Previously updated at 6.51pm