THE mystery of the woman found in an apparently semi-conscious state in Abergavenny last week was solved by a Rhondda tattoo artist.

The 26-year-old woman, pictured, who has not been named by Abergavenny police, was a missing patient from St Tydfil's psychiatric hospital in Merthyr Tydfil, to where she has been returned.

Detective Sergeant Howard Salmon said: "The inquiry team contacted tattooists in South Wales and found one in the Rhondda who identified the woman.

"She was found on the Old Hereford Road near Triley Court, but how she got there is still a mystery. She had no identification on her and she was not wearing any clothes or jewellery.

"Our only means of identifying her was through the numerous distinctive tattoos on her body. On her left wrist are the names Matthew and Laura, both underlined in red, and the names Sharon and Andrew tattooed on her left shoulder.

"She had Amy on her right wrist and Dad on the outside of her left shin and a flower on the top of her right arm.

"The inquiry team learned that the squiggles underneath the tattoos are a sign that a tattoo artist from the Rhondda did them."

Diane Davies, manager of the Merthyr Tydfil hospital, said: "It's common for mental health patients to go missing.

"Only if we are concerned about their vulnerability or they are subject to an order under the Mental Health Act do we report their disappearance to the police."