Gardaí were last night growing increasingly concerned for the safety of a 35-year-old Waterford woman who has been missing from her home in the city for the past six days.
They have renewed their appeal to the public for assistance.
Margaret (Meg) Walsh has not been seen since she left the Woodlands Hotel on Dunmore East Road, Waterford, in the early hours of last Sunday morning to return to her home in nearby Ballinakill Downs on the southeastern side of Waterford city.
Ms Walsh works as a secretary with construction firm Meadow Court Homes.
When she failed to show up for work on Monday morning, a friend working with the firm contacted gardaí at around 10am.
Gardaí launched a search and at about 1.05am on Wednesday morning, they located her silver Mitsubishi Carisma saloon in the car park at the Beach House in Ardkeen, approximately 2½km from her home.
Supt Dave Sheahan of Waterford Garda station told The Irish Times: "We've always been concerned for her because something like this is very out of character for her. She's never disappeared like this before. Anytime she's ever gone away for a break or whatever she's always told people and kept in touch with them."
Supt Sheahan said gardaí were anxious to talk to anyone who might have any information as to how Ms Walsh's car came to be parked in the car park, known locally as "the Uluru car park", between Sunday and Wednesday morning.
While gardaí are officially still treating Ms Walsh's disappearance as that of a missing person, it is understood that they are privately extremely concerned for her, particularly following the discovery of a blood-stained mat from her car.
The mat was discovered later on Wednesday morning in a field adjoining the car park by gardaí who had cordoned off the field for a technical examination of the general area where the car had been found.
A team of up to 40 gardaí carried out a thorough search of the field on Wednesday and Thursday.
However, this failed to produce anything. Both Ms Walsh's car and the mat have been sent to Dublin for forensic examination by Garda technical experts.
The Irish Times understands that gardaí have established that Ms Walsh's mobile phone has not been used or emitted any signal since her disappearance.
They have also established that she has not accessed her bank accounts since the weekend.
Ms Walsh, who is married, is described as having "an outgoing, bubbly personality".
She is 1.6m in height, weighs around 57kg, and has shoulder-length blonde hair.
When last seen, she was wearing brown jeans, a brown V-neck jumper and brown boots.
Ms Walsh has a 17-year old daughter from a previous relationship.
