A 21-year-old man has been detained in connection with the disappearance in Glasgow of student Karen Buckley, Strathclyde police have said.
The student, from Cork in Ireland, was last seen on CCTV in the early hours of Sunday outside the Sanctuary nightclub in Dumbarton Road. The pair travelled in the man’s car to his flat in Dorchester Avenue, about two miles from the club, where they spent several hours.
The man has been was detained but not arrested.
Officers are now said to be following “a definite line of inquiry” after the search for the missing student was intensified on Wednesday, with divers and sniffer dogs scouring parts of Glasgow.
Specialist officers carried out fingertip searches at a flat north-west of the city on Wednesday, while a second team of detectives, aided by a helicopter crew, combed a nearby park where her handbag was discovered on Tuesday.
Det Supt Jim Kerr, who is leading the investigation, said finding Karen was the force’s “absolute priority” as the increasingly desperate search neared its fifth day.
Kerr said: “Our absolute priority is to find Karen Buckley. We have a team of specialist search officers from the west and east working in the area as well as additional patrols in the west end and north of the city. Anyone with any information, no matter how insignificant it may seem, should contact 101 or anonymously on Crimestoppers.”
Karen’s friends said they arrived at the Sanctuary nightclub at about 11.45pm on Saturday and at about 1am she told her friends she was going to the toilet. But she failed to return and left her jacket.
Karen, who began an occupational therapy degree at Glasgow Caledonian University in February, was previously a nurse at the Princess Alexandria hospital in Harlow, Essex.
Her parents, Marion and John, have flown to Glasgow from their home in Ireland. John Buckley, 62, told a press conference on Tuesday his daughter’s disappearance was out of character.
He said: “We are extremely concerned for her. We are desperate to get her back and safe with her family – she is our only daughter, we love her dearly and just want her to come home safe and sound.”
Detectives said they were concerned for Karen’s wellbeing. They appealed for information about a grey car seen on the country roads between Milngavie and Drymen between 11am and 3pm on Monday.
Meanwhile, her friends used social media to pay tribute to a “kind, caring girl who wouldn’t hurt a fly”. One friend, Julie, wrote on Facebook: “Only met them a handful of times but they are lovely people and doting parents. Karen has always spoke so fondly of her mum, dad and three brothers. She is a credit to her parents.
“Karen is a kind, caring girl who wouldn’t hurt a fly … perfect for the caring profession. Come back to us safe Karen, come back soon. Missing you my little Buckaroo.
“All your friends are supporting each other waiting on new news every second, of every minute, of every day. I love you xx”
At Karen’s home in north Cork a special prayer service was arranged on Wednesday for local people to show support for the family. The private mass of hope, as it was being described, was held at the Church of Saint Michael the Archangel, Mourneabbey, near the town of Mallow.
William Crean, the Catholic bishop of Cloyne, led the prayers. “On my own behalf and on behalf of the faithful of the Diocese of Cloyne, I wish to offer prayerful support to the family of Karen Buckley at this painful time as they await the safe return of Karen,” he said.
