The parents of a young Irish woman missing in Glasgow have appealed to anyone who may have information about her whereabouts to contact police.
John and Marian Buckley, who travelled to Glasgow from the family farm in Mourneabbey near Mallow in Co Cork yesterday, urged anyone who can assist them in tracing Karen, the youngest of their four children, to come forward.
“She is our only daughter and we love her dearly – we just want Karen home safely – we are desperate and if anyone has any information, please come forward,” said Ms Buckley.
Mr Buckley said they were desperate to find Karen (24) who hasn’t been seen since she left a nightclub in Glasgow in the early hours of Sunday morning. “We are extremely concerned for her – we love her to bits and just want her to come home safe and sound.”
Speaking at a Glasgow Police press conference, he said his daughter was “a sensible girl” who always keeps in contact with family and friends. “Not responding to texts and calls to her mobile is very, very worrying as it is so out of character.”
Ms Buckley, a nurse, moved to Glasgow in January to study occupational therapy at Glasgow Caledonian University.
Her brother Kieran (28) said he was flying to Glasgow from Sydney where he and his brother Damian (27) live. Their other brother Brendan (32) lives in Cork.
While out at the Sanctuary nightclub, she disappeared after she left friends to go to the bathroom at about 1am and never returned.
Police later identified her on CCTV footage talking to a man outside the nightclub and then walking with a man along Dumbarton Road away from the city centre and her flat.
‘Gravely concerned’
Det Supt
Jim Kerr
said police were treating Ms Buckley’s disappearance as a missing person inquiry but were “gravely concerned” she may have come to some harm.
“Yesterday we appealed for a man she was seen with on CCTV walking along Dumbarton Road after she left the club – we have traced him and he is assisting us with our inquiries.”
He stressed the man was currently not at a suspect and there was no evidence Ms Buckley left the nightclub under duress.
He confirmed Ms Buckley’s handbag had been found in Dawsholm Park – some 5km from where she was last seen.
Police have also established she was in the Kelvinside area of the city in the early hours of Sunday but have yet to establish where she went from there. Police were last night continuing air and ground searches of the area, including in the park where the handbag was found.