THE parents of the young Sri Lankan woman found murdered in a city centre apartment at the weekend are due in Dublin later this week to formally identify her body.
Ms Belinda Pereira, aged in her 20s, had come to Dublin from London to work as a prostitute over the Christmas holiday.
Her body was found in an apartment at Mellor Court on Liffey Street, Dublin, on Sunday.
Her identification papers yielded her name and London address, but when British police visited the London house on Monday it was found to be empty.
Gardai initiated an inquiry through Interpol, and Ms Pereira's, parents were contacted in Sri Lanka.
They have been told of the murder and have been preparing to travel to Dublin.
Ms Pereira's mother had travelled from the London home she shared with her daughter to Sri Lanka shortly before Christmas, to spend the holiday there.
Gardai have renewed their appeal to anyone who visited an apartment at Mellor Court last Saturday night or Sunday morning to come forward.
Supt Bill O'Donoghue of Store Street station said all information would be treated in the strictest confidence.
Officers are still searching for the murder weapon, believed to have been a hammer or similar blunt instrument.
A search of the bed of the Liffey over the past two days yielded no results.
Ms Pereira was one of a growing number of young women from Britain who have been travelling to the Republic to work as prostitutes, often for only a week or two at a time.
She worked for a brothel owner who advertised "Swedish, Brazilian, Italian and black beauties" through a Dublin listings magazine.
Ms Pereira was due to return to London yesterday.
Her body was found at 3 p.m. on Sunday, lying in the bed in the apartment.
She had been subjected to a violent attack and had suffered massive head injuries.
Ms Pereira had worked in Dublin before, and her body was informally identified by a friend in Dublin, but formal identification will be by her parents.
Gardai are examining whether there are any links between the murder and attacks on two prostitutes in Dublin in recent weeks.
One said she was raped by a man who was armed with a Stanley knife blade.
Ms Pereira's killer appears to have carried the murder weapon to the apartment, suggesting the attack was premeditated.