Police are trying to establish the identity of a woman whose body was found on a remote Scottish beach after she entered the water in Northern Ireland.
It is believed she went into the sea between Bangor and Ballywalter, Co Down in July 2017.
But tragically her remains were discovered on August 9 that year after about a month in the water.
Since then police have been working to find out who she is with the hope of contacting her family.
Their lengthy and detailed investigation, including weeks of work by forensic artists, have now enabled the police to release an image of the woman.
Detective Sergeant Garry Mitchell, says he wants to give her family closure and asked that anyone who knows who she is, to contact police with details.
DS Mitchell from Police Scotland, said: “Someone is missing her. Someone loves her. Someone out there is looking for answers.
“When I got the initial call I had so many questions that needed answered. How had she ended up here, how long had she been here for, and what’d actually happened to her?
“The body was confirmed as being face down and being partly clothed and it was clearly badly decomposed.”
A postmortem revealed little information about her and there were no matches on the national DNA database for missing people.
Officers focused their early enquiries on the Ards Peninsula but no one fitted the description and Police Scotland then turned to forensic artists in Liverpool for help to create a portrait.
She is described as being 4’ 11”, young to middle aged, having been educated in Asia or the Far East. When she was found she was wearing black skinny jeans from Primark, Harry Potter logo pants and a handwritten letter was found in a sealed plastic bag in her pocket. It is believed to have been written by the woman but her name was not included.
Specialised handwriting experts who studied the letter believe the grammar and handwriting style showed she had been educated in Asia or Far East Asia.
And experts in tidal patterns established that she most likely entered the water on the Ards Peninsula between Bangor and Ballywalter before the tide took her across the North Channel to a remote beach at Portencorkrie Bay on the Mull of Galloway, Scotland.
DS Mitchell told Crimewatch Roadshow Live : “They were able with a high degree of confidence to determine that she’d been in the water for at least 28 days ands she’d been washed up to shore for about three to four days and had possibly she had fallen into the water between Bangor and Ballywalter and come across the Northern Channel.”
Police Scotland then turned to forensic artists in Liverpool for help to create a portrait.
The woman’s remains were discovered by holiday makers who were walking in Mull of Galloway which faces towards Northern Ireland and they walkers alerted the police and the painstaking work to identify her started.
DS Mitchell said: "This woman is a friend, a family member, mum or daughter and until we identify her we cannot return her to her family."
With a portrait likeness of the mystery woman now available, police have asked that anyone who recognises her, contacts the PSNI on 101.
