Gardai investigating the murder of 28 year old Brazilian woman Bruna Fonseca in Cork on New Year's Day have travelled to Brazil to take statements from a number of witnesses.
Two officers, involved in the investigation, flew to Brazil on Monday and were joined by a Garda Liaison Officer based in Bogota in Colombia, who met with the two Cork detectives before they travelled to her hometown of Formiga in south-eastern Brazil.
It's expected the Gardai will meet with local police officers and then take witness statements from several family members, including a relative who raised the alarm by contacting gardai in Cork when they became concerned after they were unable to contact Bruna Fonseca on New Year's Day.
Gardai called to a building on Liberty Street in the city centre at around 6.30am on New Year's Day when they met a man who admitted them to the upstairs flat. They found Bruna unconscious, and the emergency services were alerted, however she was pronounced dead at the scene.
A post mortem confirmed that she had died a violent death.
Gardai later arrested a 29 year old man, who was known to Bruna Fonseca, for questioning about her death and he was later charged with her murder and he has since made a number of court appearances on the single charge and is due back before the District Court on February 13th.
A qualified librarian, Bruna Fonseca came to Cork in September last year to improve her English and she obtained work as a cleaner at the Mercy University Hospital.
A GoFundMe campaign helped to raise money to bring her body home to Brazil for burial where she was laid to rest on January 16th alongside her grandparents.
