Dublin was rattled by the sight of a wandering, distressed girl outside a local building (GPO) along Dublin's major road on Oct 10. When taken into custody by the Irish Health Executive Service, the Mystery Girl kept to herself most of the time, spoke little English, drew images of aeroplanes and an image of herself surrounded by men and money. The images drawn by the Mystery Girl alarmed healthcare workers.

The local police initially thought she was a victim of sex trafficking managed by an east European human trafficking syndicate.

Chief executive of the Immigrant Council of Ireland, Denise Charlton, said that they had considered sex trafficking because the crime is prevalent in the place where the Mystery Girl was seen wandering.

"The GPO case is causing widespread shock, and is deeply distressing not least for the Garda, HSE and social workers caring directly for the girl involved. This case has brought the issue of trafficking back into focus. The facts speak for themselves, 48 people identified as trafficking victims in 2012, most were sexually exploited and 23 were children," Ms Charlton told The Australian.

However, after a thorough investigation by Dublin police, the sex trafficking angle was ruled out.

Dublin's Mystery Girl was now identified as Samantha Azzopardi, an Australian in her early twenties.

Mr Justice George Birmingham ruled for Ms Azzopardi to remain under Dublin's Childcare Act, even if she was not a child, because she is "vulnerable and her life could be at risk."

Her family were on their way to Ireland from Australia as of press time.

Thanks to an unprecedented ruling of the High Court - to release her photo across all media channels and platforms - a man who was not related to her was able to identify her and contacted the authorities.

From Dublin

Police authorities, the Garda, first thought that Ms Azzopardi was only 14 or 15 years old and a European for she was blonde and spoke little English, Independent.ie reported. Ms Azzopardi was wearing a purple hooded top, tight dark-coloured jeans, a grey woollen jumper and flat black shoes. Police were able to trace that her clothes were bought from a major Irish retailers but they could not determine when the clothes were purchased.

Local police had been in clueless investigation for several weeks as 115 separate lines of inquiry were futile.

After hitting a brick wall - by which they contacted Interpol, the missing persons bureau, forensic science laboratory, the domestic and sexual assault unit and national immigration authorities; viewed CCTV footages, made contact with social services, homeless shelters, bed and breakfasts, hostels, airports and ports across Dublin - the High Court finally allowed for her photo to be published.

In a first, Dublin High Court ruled for her photo to be released worldwide on Nov 5. Just within 10 hours after her photo was published, a relative was already in contact. She might have travelled to Dublin as a social worker and counsellor.

In total, Dublin's Garda spent 2,000 hours just to solve the case of Ms Azzopardi. The authorities had even searched numerous dental records in the hope that the braces she wore would give her identity away.

In a statement on Nov 5, Garda said that they have tied all lose ends to the case of the Mystery Girl.

"Gardai (sic) wish to sincerely thank the public and the media for their assistance. They also wish to inform them that no further assistance is required at this time," stated the Irish police.