The search for Maura Reynolds, who is missing from a nursing home in Bray in Co Wicklow, has been called off for the night.
The 76-year-old woman has been missing from the Tara Nursing Home since St Stephen's morning. There has been no sign of her since, despite extensive searches of the Bray area.
Her son, George, told RTÉ News that she might have believed she had a doctor's appointment.
He said it was possible a motorist gave her a short lift, which might explain why she had not been found following a thorough search in the vicinity of the home.
The grandmother of nine and great grandmother of one was last seen by an orderly shortly after midnight on Christmas night. When staff checked her room early the next morning she was gone.
Her family think that she may have got dressed during the night and let herself out the kitchen door of the nursing home.
Mrs Reynolds suffers from Alzheimer's Disease. She also has cancer of the spine which has left her very frail. Her family believe that she could not have made it more than a few hundred yards by herself.
Gardaí say they are interested in talking to anyone who may have been walking on Bray seafront or the Bray Head walk between 9pm and 11pm on Sunday night.
Gardaí have appealed to local residents returning home after the Christmas holiday to check their lands and outhouses.
Yesterday, gardaí distributed leaflets bearing a description of Mrs Reynolds to people in Bray. They also conducted a major air and sea search of the vicinity.
