The sister of a missing Lithuanian woman in Ireland has told how their family have given up hope of her being found alive.
Giedre Raguckaite disappeared from Dundalk, Co Louth on May 29, 2018.
That day, the 29-year-old made contact with a friend and at about 6.30pm, called her father in Lithuania.
She explained that she had been in a hotel that day for dinner and was socialising.
She was seen being helped into a house in Laytown, Co Meath, that night at 11pm by two men.
She was seen leaving the house with these men at 1.45am on May 30, but hasn't been seen since.
"As hard as it is to acknowledge, generally we believe that Giedre is probably not alive anymore," her sister Zivile said.
"We would like to believe differently, but years passing by and still there is no closure...The evidence also is not in our favour. We just really hope the truth and justice will come soon.
"It cannot continue like this forever."
Due to the concerning nature of the case, gardai upgrading the investigation to a murder inquiry just three months after Giedre was reported missing.
Speaking to the Sunday Independent via email from her home in Cyprus, Zivile added: "When my sister disappeared, our realities were shattered - it is like we could never imagined this could happen to our family.
"I still wake up some days and believe it is not real what's happening.
"It was an extremely hard time time and a shock for us when her disappearance was upgraded to a murder investigation because deep inside us was still burning some hope...
"However, as time passes by, we start to get more realistic and basically all we really want now is just closure - whatever the truth might be - and for whoever is responsible to be punished."
