‘Please help find my beautiful sister’

The sister of missing Irish woman Catherine Gowing yesterday appealed to people to search for her “beautiful sister and best friend”.

In a moving police appeal in the north Wales town of Mold, Emma Gowing said her sister was the “light of her life” and that of their parents.

The call was made after police were given 36 more hours by the courts to question a 46-year-old Welshman who was arrested on suspicion of her murder on Wednesday.

Catherine Gowing, 37, originally from Clareen in Co Offaly, was last seen on Friday night after leaving a local supermarket carrying groceries.

A work colleague became concerned after receiving a partial text message from her over the weekend. Staff at the veterinary practice rang police on Monday morning after the vet failed to turn up.

Emma Gowing, who travelled to Mold with her partner Shay, appealed for the public’s assistance at a press conference organised by police.

“I’d implore the local community to do all they can do to help to us find her: look out of your windows, look as you drive or head to work, check your local street, car parks, garages, wasteland or anywhere the car may be left. Please look, please search, please help us find my beautiful sister.”

Stopping to compose herself, she said: “Catherine is a kind, sensitive, beautiful person. She’s passionate about animals, utterly devoted to my family. She’s my best friend, she’s the light of my life, she’s the light of my parents’ lives.”

She added: “If you have any information about Catherine, no matter how trivial you think it is, please contact the police at Mold.”

It emerged yesterday that an incomplete text message was sent from Catherine’s mobile phone to a colleague at Evans Veterinary Practice over the weekend — after she was last seen.

“One of the nurses was concerned about her on Saturday or Sunday because she had half a message from her, from her mobile phone anyway,” said David Evans, owner of the practice.

“We thought, since her car was missing, we thought maybe she had gone somewhere for the weekend or got into some difficulty or something like that. We informed the police as soon as she did not turn up for work at nine o’clock on Monday morning. Then we left it to the police.”

He said he employed Catherine as a vet some 18 months back and described here as “very caring” and very popular with both clients and colleagues.

A 46-year-old man from Gwynedd, in custody, is known to Ms Gowing and is known to frequent the New Brighton area, where she lived.