The trial of a Sligo man accused of murdering Melissa Mahon has heard that her mother refused to make a statement to gardaí to report her missing because she was not in her care at the time.
Mary Mahon said her daughter was in the care of the Health Service Executive when she went missing in September 2006.
The court was told that Melissa Mahon had made allegations of abuse against her parents and had run away from home on a number of occasions.
Mary Mahon also agreed on cross examination that she refused to give gardaí the details of the whereabouts of her family members when they were investigating the disappearance.
She also reported sightings of Melissa by others but refused to tell gardaí who had made those sightings.
43-year-old Ronald McManus, also known as Ronnie Dunbar, of Rathbraughan Park in Sligo, denies the murder of Melissa Mahon in September 2006.
The court heard that Melissa had become close friends with Mr Dunbar's daughters and was an almost daily visitor to their home.
Earlier, lawyers for the prosecution told the jury it would hear evidence from Mr Dunbar's daughters, who witnessed Melissa Mahon's body being tied up in a sleeping bag and taken from their house in Rathbraughan Park before being dumped in the River Bonnet.
The jury was told that in February 2008 during a search of Lough Gill the remains of a young female were found along with a sleeping bag and clothing identified as that worn by Ms Mahon the last time she was seen.
