THE London-based family of a missing Irish mother-of-one has finally been given hope of a breakthrough after crucial CCTV footage relating to the baffling case was dispatched to a specialist team in Britain for fresh analysis.
Berna FidanEsra Uyrun was last seen leaving her home in Clondalkin, west Dublin, on the morning of February 23, 2011.
Her family believes the 38-year-old was abducted at some stage between the time she set off from her home and the discovery of her car in Bray, Co. Wicklow later that morning.
Although the vehicle, a grey Renault Twingo, was captured on CCTV driving towards a car park in the Co. Wicklow seaside town, a previous bid to enhance the grainy video footage and identify the mystery driver - who the family believes to be Esra's abductor - proved unsuccessful.
However, Berna Fidan, Esra's older sister, said confirmation that the footage is being re-examined by leading experts in Britain represents "the best chance in years" of finally solving the mystery.
The development comes following London-based Berna's visit to Ireland back in February to mark the 12th anniversary of Esra's disappearance.
During the visit the 57-year-old grandmother-of-one met with senior gardaí, where she pleaded with them to give the green light for the low-quality CCTV footage to be sent over to Britaibn for thorough analysis specialists in the UK.
Berna said her hopes were lifted in recent days, after her garda liaison officer contacted her to confirm the footage has been sent to a leading company in London.
She said: "It's a huge relief that this has finally happened. I've been informed that the video has been sent to a leading company in the UK, one that is used for major investigations.
"The footage was examined a few years ago, but I don't believe a proper job was done on it at the time. But I know all the stops will be pulled out this time to enhance the footage, so we can finally see who was driving Esra's car.
"I'm very confident that the technology now exists to do this, but at the same time I don't want to get too optimistic, because we've had so many setbacks since the day Esra disappeared.
"That said, this represents our best hope for years of finally moving the case forward, and finding out what happened to my sister. All being well, we should get results within the next couple of weeks.
"As I've said previously, I'm sure that the person who was driving wasn't Esra, but the person who abducted her. Hopefully the footage can be enhanced enough to identify the driver."
