New information has emerged in the case of missing Dublin woman Bernadette Connolly after a taxi driver came forward following a public appeal.
The 45-year-old has been missing from the Swords area of north County Dublin since Friday, January 7 and was last spotted on Donabate Beach on that day.
In an update on social media, her daughter Jade Connolly revealed that the taxi driver who dropped her mother from Swords to the Shoreline Hotel near Donabate Beach has made contact.
According to the taxi driver, Bernadette told him that she was meeting a friend on the beach on the day she went missing.
Taking to Instagram where she has been sharing updates with the public, Jade wrote: “Taxi man came forward. I'm grateful for that.
“She asked him to drop her out there (hotel by the beach) and that she was meeting a friend.
“Someone on that beach had to [have] seen something, maybe her walking down, taking the photo, paddling her feet. Please, please try and think of what you saw.”
It is also believed that Bernadette brought a dark pink towel with her on the day she vanished.
Bernadette was last spotted on Swords Main Street at 11.36am on January 7 and once again on CCTV at the Shoreline Hotel in nearby Donabate at 11.58am.
She was spotted at the end of Donabate beach 32 minutes later at 12.30pm and snapped a photo of the bay on her phone at 12.38pm.
Search and rescue teams have been dispatched by boat and by land to search along the coastline and beaches on the east coast.
Bernadette is described as being 5’6" in height, of slim build with hazel eyes and long black hair.
She is thought to be wearing a black woolly hat with black bobble, black Nike trainers with chunky white soles, black leggings, a black puffer jacket and carrying a black handbag.
Anyone with any information on Bernadette Connolly can contact Swords Garda Station 01 666 4700, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or any Garda station.
