Gardaí searching for a girl who they suspect was smuggled to Ireland following an arranged marriage in her native Romania conducted a search yesterday of homes in Tralee.
The girl, who has been missing for almost a fortnight, was not found in the searches of 12 houses occupied by members of the Roma ethnic minority community, of which she is a member.
The 12-year-old girl is believed to have run away with her Roma husband, who she married last year in a traditional Roma ceremony in Romania.
Gardaí suspect she was brought illegally to Ireland following the arranged marriage. She had been living with the man's extended family in a house in Tallaght, west Dublin. She was removed from the house for her own safety on April 3rd after a search by immigration gardaí.
Yesterday's early morning house searches were conducted by members of the Garda National Immigration Bureau as well as gardaí from Tralee and Crumlin Station in Dublin, where an incident room has been set up.
A Garda spokesman said the searches followed information passed to gardaí on Thursday. Romanian police are also helping gardaí to help establish the girl's identity. Gardaí say she is known as Violeta, and also Arisiro.
Violeta has been missing from Crumlin Children's Hospital in Dublin since the morning of April 8th. She is described as around 4ft 7ins tall and of stocky build, with dark hair and dark eyes.
Anyone with any information is asked to contact gardaí at Crumlin Station 01-6666200, or the Garda Confidential line 1800 666 111.