Family distraught over grandmother's pilgrimage disappearance

The distraught family of a grandmother who went missing almost a week ago while on a pilgrimage in Bosnia-Herzegovina said today they have no idea what could have happened to her.

The search is continuing for Winnifred Brady, who vanished last Wednesday in the town of Medjugorje.

Mrs Brady, 59, from Kilbarrack, was visiting the shrine with eight friends when she disappeared.

Her devastated friends returned to Dublin without her late last week.

The Department of Foreign Affairs is continuing to liaise with Mrs Brady’s family, police in the town, and a representative in the area.

The United Nations, a holiday company rep and translator have also joined Mrs Brady’s husband Stephen and his brother who flew out to the shrine on Friday to help with the search.

“There are no developments at all, no sightings of her whatsoever, she just disappeared,” said daughter Carmel Moody.

“My dad has been in contact and has the same news, there are no sightings.

“This is out of character for her. She has never ever done anything like this before. She always is in contact with us and has always had a mobile since they first came out.”

Mrs Brady, who suffers from arthritis in one leg and relies on a walking stick to get around, was last seen leaving her hotel to go for a walk.

It is understood the mother of five had stayed in the hotel while her friends went to a hilltop Mass.

All her belongings were left in her room.

Mrs Brady suffered depression following the death of her son 10 years ago, but her family maintain she was happy and had moved on with her life.

“Everybody goes through depression when they lose a child,” said Carmel.

“I lost a child around the same time and I grieved, we all grieved, but when you have other children you can’t dwell on the one child all the time.

“It is there with you for the rest of your life, but she did get on with her life. She was happy, she went on a lot of holidays.”

Some 30 million people have visited the shrine since 1981, when six youth Bosnian Croats said they began seeing visions of the Virgin Mary there.

The Brady family have no idea what could have happened to their loving mother during her visit.

“Her health was good apart from her knee, there was nothing else wrong with her,” Carmel told RTÉ radio.

“She could have banged her head somewhere, but if she did they would have found her by now because they did a search and air search. They had heat scanners, they would have seen something.

“The family are not coping too well at the moment. The days are getting longer.

“We don’t know what to think anymore. The rest of my brothers and sisters are very distraught at the moment.”