THE parents of missing student Karen Buckley appealed for her safe return today as a handbag believed to belong to the 24-year-old was found in a park.
Marian and John Buckley made an emotional plea to anyone who might know where their daughter is at a press conference held in Glasgow this afternoon.
“We just want Karen home safely, we are desperate. She is our only daughter, we love her dearly,” her distraught mother said.
"If anybody has any information please come forward, we would dearly appreciate it."
Karen, who hails from Co Cork, was last seen by her friends at the Sanctuary nightclub in the Partick area of the city at 1am on Sunday, April 12 – when she left them to use the toilet but never returned and didn’t collect her coat.
She was then caught on CCTV camera talking to a man outside the club.
During today’s press conference Detective Superintendent Jim Kerr confirmed a bag, believed to be the one Karen was using on the night she disappeared, was found in Dawsholm Park, near Dorchester Avenue, this afternoon.
He also revealed that the student - who only arrived in Glasgow a few months ago – is thought to have left the nightclub with a man and went to a house in the Dorchester Avenue area, before leaving there at 4am on foot to go home.
While reaffirming that this is still “a missing persons enquiry” Det Supt. Kerr added: “The objective of this inquiry is to trace Karen safe and well, and that remains our priority.
"We're gravely concerned that Karen has come to some harm, however,” he added.
"Whether that's due to foul play, criminality or she's taken unwell or had an accident is obviously still to be established. She's a lovely girl, she's close to her family, popular with her friends - she's only been in Glasgow a few months.”
