Gardaí investigating the disappearance of Fiona Pender have concluded their excavation in the Slieve Bloom mountains and have not uncovered any evidence of human remains.
The investigation will now centre on a makeshift wooden cross, which was erected in the wooded area within the past number of weeks.
The operation began on Monday after the small wooden cross with the missing woman's name written on it was found at the site on the Laois/Offaly border.
The find was made on the Monicknew recreational area on the road between Mountrath and Clonaslee.
Gardaí have also renewed their appeal for information from anyone in the Tullamore area who may know something about Ms Pender's disappearance.
Ms Pender has been missing from her home in Tullamore since August 1996. She was aged 25 and seven months pregnant when she disappeared.
Gardaí say they are confident there are still people in the area who may be able to assist with the investigation.
It has also emerged that a number of people who have used the Monicknew recreational area in the Slieve Bloom mountains in the last few weeks have come forward with additional information to gardaí.
Ms Pender's mother, Josephine Pender, appealed to the person who left the cross to come forward and said she hoped her daughter's body would be found.
She added that it was hard to understand why anybody would have erected a cross with Fiona's name on it at that location.
Josephine Pender said the cross was out of the ordinary and was the first time in the 12-year investigation into Fiona's disappearance that anything like that was found.
