Galway's mayor and city manager, and Garda liaison officers, are due to fly to Switzerland for the funeral of Swiss teenager Manuela Riedo who was murdered in the city over a week ago.
Representatives of Galway's three main language schools are also travelling to the Bern suburb of Hinterkappeln for the funeral, which will take place on Friday.
Ms Riedo's body was flown from Dublin yesterday to the Swiss capital, Zurich, accompanied by Garda officers, as a new appeal for information was issued by the investigation team.
Thanking people for their excellent response to date to earlier appeals, the Garda investigation team, led by Supt Tom Curley, said it believed there were still "people out there who were using the walkway between Renmore and Ceannt Station" on the evening of Monday, October 9th, who have not contacted them.
Such people were in the area during the "critical time" between 7.15pm and 8pm on October 8th, and the team said it urged individuals to make contact with Mill Street Garda station so that they could be eliminated from the investigation.
Gardaí are expecting results of DNA evidence linked to Ms Riedo's violent death in Renmore later this week, and have been examining CCTV footage recorded in the city centre around Ceannt Station.
It is understood that train passengers have been interviewed, given that the crime may have taken place shortly after the arrival of the last train from Dublin into Galway. Taxi and hackney drivers have also been interviewed about passengers picked up in the city centre area.
Ms Riedo's body was found on the morning of Tuesday, October 10th, on an embankment below the "military walk" from Ceannt Station to Renmore, parallel to the Dublin-Galway railway line.
She was last seen leaving her host family in Renmore Park shortly after 7pm on Monday, October 9th, and was on her way to meet fellow language students and their group leaders in the city centre.
The investigation team said yesterday that it would also like to hear from anyone who may have noticed a change in the behaviour of people they know.
"Such changes may include an increase in the consumption of alcohol or drugs, missed work appointments or unscheduled leave or sick leave, leaving the area for unexplained reasons, appearing unusually nervous or anxious to friends or co-workers and, finally, attempting to change their appearance by cutting their hair or shaving off facial hair," the team said in a statement. Any information should be conveyed to Galway's Mill Street station 091-538070, or the Garda confidential phone line on 1800-666111.
