A 22-year-old Japanese student who disappeared after she withdrew £200 from her bank account at an ATM machine in Limerick on March 26th is now the subject of Garda inquiries in Limerick, Howth, Co Dublin, and through Interpol.
Ms Hiromi Kujirai left her home in Tokyo on March 19th and arrived in Dublin without the knowledge of her parents, with whom she was said to have had a disagreement. She was staying in Howth and was booked to return to Tokyo on March 30th to take up a position with a bank. She has a primary degree in economics.
Ms Kujirai visited Ireland twice in recent months.
Sgt Tim McCarthy, who is coordinating the search from Howth Garda station, said she had a fascination with the Cliffs of Moher region. For that reason, he said, gardai were tentatively linking the disappearance with the finding of the torso of a woman washed up last Monday at Derreen East, Fanore, about five miles from the Cliffs of Moher.
The body is being examined to establish identification with the help of Interpol.
The Japan-Ireland Connection in Blackrock, Co Dublin, which the parents contacted earlier this month as they tried to trace the movements of their daughter in Ireland remains hopeful that the body found on the Clare coast is not that of Ms Kujirai.
Sgt McCarthy said the young woman had £1,300 when she left home and had drawn two payments of £200 each out of her account. A woman answering her description had, according to the sergeant, made inquiries at Limerick railway station about bus connections to the Cliffs of Moher and Doolin.
"We are now waiting for results from Interpol," Sgt McCarthy said.