The disappearance of Amy Fitzpatrick occurred on New Year's Day 2008. At 10pm on that day, 15-year-old Irish girl Amy Fitzpatrick said goodbye to her friend Ashley Rose, with whom she had been babysitting Ashley's brother at a house in Mijas Costa in Málaga, Spain. Fitzpatrick should have arrived at her home a few minutes later, as it was only a short walk away. She never arrived home and has not been heard from or seen since that night.
Amy Fitzpatrick | |
|---|---|
| Born | Amy Fitzpatrick 7 February 1992 Dublin, Ireland |
| Disappeared | 1 January 2008 (aged 15) Málaga, Spain |
| Status | Missing for 16 years, 10 months and 21 days |
| Nationality | Irish |
Initial search
editFollowing her disappearance, a search involving hundreds of people was launched amidst speculation this was not an abduction.[1]
In August 2008, the home of Dave Mahon - the partner of Amy Fitzpatrick's mother Audrey - and Fitzpatrick's lawyer in Riviera del Sol was broken into and a laptop that was used in the search for Fitzpatrick was stolen. In addition, Fitzpatrick's Nokia mobile phone was stolen. The 32-year-old lawyer, Juan José de la Fuente Teixidó, said the burglars got into his property by forcing a locked garden gate. He said: "The stolen documents included confidential police reports about Fitzpatrick's disappearance. I believe the burglary was related to Fitzpatrick's disappearance. It makes no sense that they took documents which financially are worthless, and left behind all my expensive valuables like TVs, computers and music equipment."[2]
Ransom demand
editIn June 2009, Audrey Fitzpatrick received a telephone call from a man claiming he knew the location of Amy Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick described the caller as having an African accent asking her if she was Fitzpatrick's mother. In an article published by expatriate newspaper Euro Weekly News Audrey said:
He went on to say he knew where she was. She had been kidnapped and was in Madrid and the police were not to be involved. So I agreed, of course. He then said he'd ring me back with a name and address in two hours. Five hours later, after sitting with my phone in my hand and my heart in my mouth, I got a text to say, and I quote: 'Can you pay us 500,000 euro. Yes or no send your answer now and will send you all the info you need.' The phone number on this text is 672 564 687. I'll also give you the number he rang me on, too: 672 564 681.[3]
Audrey Fitzpatrick commented that the Guardia Civil and her private investigators followed up on these numbers, but they were both pre-pay, and had never been registered.
Later investigations
editAudrey Fitzpatrick has taken on private investigators who have been working on Fitzpatrick's case since 2008. They are the same detectives who investigated the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. In May 2012, it was reported that an Irish gangland killer, Eric "Lucky" Wilson, murdered her.[4] Her parents believe that this particular piece of information is credible; however, a body is yet to be found. Amy was seen out with an older man on the night she disappeared who her family now believe was Wilson.[5][citation needed]
A police report from May 2011, claims three witnesses have come forward alleging they saw Amy with a mystery blonde woman in the Trafalgar Bar in Calahonda's El Zoco centre hours after her previous last reported sighting.[6]
Ahead of what would have been her 30th birthday, Fitzpatrick's parents sought to bring a practice of cold case reviews to the EU.[7]
Amy's 23-year-old brother Dean Fitzpatrick was stabbed to death in Coolock, Dublin, in 2013 in an incident involving Dave Mahon, his mother's partner. On May 6, 2016, Dave Mahon was found not guilty of the murder but guilty of manslaughter. He was sentenced to 7 years in prison.[8]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Edel Kennedy (7 January 2008). "Search agony grows for family of Amy (15)". The Irish Independent. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
- ^ "Light in window still left on for missing Amy". Sunday Independent. 20 March 2011. Retrieved 17 July 2017 – via pressreader.com.
- ^ "Amy Fitzpatrick: Mother receives 500,000-euro ransom demand". Euro Weekly News. 4 June 2009. Retrieved 20 March 2012.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Is gangland killer Lucky linked to missing Amy? Evening Herald, 1 May 2012
- ^ Campos, Adelina (1 May 2012). "Is gangland killer Lucky linked to missing Amy?". independent. Archived from the original on 29 December 2021. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
- ^ Williams, Wendy (24 May 2011). "Missing Amy Fitzpatrick: Was she living rough?". theolivepress.com. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
- ^ "Missing Amy Fitzpatrick's aunt says it's a 'sad day' ahead of 30th birthday vigil" (in Flemish). Retrieved 7 July 2022.
- ^ "Dave Mahon found not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter of his stepson". thejournal.ie. 6 May 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
External links
edit- Website Dedicated to Finding Fitzpatrick at the Wayback Machine (archived 2009-09-25)