The search for Dublin woman Winifred (Winnie) Brady (59), who went missing 10 days ago while on pilgrimage to Medjugorje, was set to widen at first light today to mountain areas.
Her husband, Stephen, and his brother, John, were flown out to Medjugorje in Bosnia on September 8th by the Department of Foreign Affairs.
A spokeswoman for the department said last night that a helicopter search of the Medjugorje mountains and of the immediate area she was last seen had already taken place. Now the perimeter of the search was to be extended with teams of police and about 200 volunteers searching the mountains today.
The spokeswoman said Mr Brady and his brother "hoped to stay until they found her".
Mrs Brady was on her third visit to Medjugorje. She was with a party of about 10 neighbours from the Kilbarrack area on the northside of Dublin city.
One of her fellow pilgrims called her at 4.45am on the day she went missing. She had planned to leave her accommodation and climb to a prayer meeting with the group. But because her knee was swollen she did not accompany them.
When the group returned to meet her at about 2pm, a receptionist told them Mrs Brady had left the premises at about 1pm. She has not been seen since.