Disappearance of Amy Fitzpatrick

Amy Fitzpatrick
Born Amy Fitzpatrick
(1992-02-07)7 February 1992
Ireland
Disappeared 1 January 2008 (aged 15)
Málaga, Spain
Status Missing for 8 years, 11 months and 3 days
Nationality Irish

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 friend Ashley Rose, with whom she had been babysitting Ashley’s brother at her friend’s house in Mijas Costa in Málaga, Spain. Fitzpatrick should have arrived at her home on the urbanisation Riviera del Sol in Mijas Costa, near Fuengirola, at about 10:10pm, as it was only a short walk away. She never arrived home and has not been heard from or seen since that night.

Initial search

Following her disappearance, a search involving hundreds[1] of people was launched amidst speculation this was not an abduction. Fitzpatrick's mother Audrey and her partner Dave Mahon continue to try to keep the campaign to find Fitzpatrick alive.[2]

In August 2008, the home of Mahon 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, Amy Fitzpatrick's Nokia mobile phone was stolen. The 32-year-old lawyer, Juan José de la Fuente Teixidó, said the burglars got in to 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."

Ransom demand

In 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 are both pre-pay, and have never been registered.

The search continues

Audrey Fitzpatrick has taken on private investigators who have been working on Fitzpatrick’s case since 2008. They are the same detectives used in the case of Madeleine McCann's disappearance. They are following up on names that they think might be significant, mainly two English people. In May 2012, it was reported that an infamous 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. Crucially, Amy was seen out with an older man on the night she disappeared who her family now believe was Wilson. Amy's mother, Audrey, is to publish a book later this year about the disappearance of her daughter hoping that it will prompt people with any information to come forward.

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.[5]

Amy's brother was stabbed to death in Coolock, Dublin, in 2013 in an incident involving Dave Mahon, his mother's partner. Investigations into this killing are ongoing by the Garda Síochána. On the 6th of May 2016, Dave Mahon was found not guilty of murder but guilty of the manslaughter of his stepson, Dean Fitzpatrick. He has been since sentenced to 7 years in Prison. [6]

References

  1. ↑ Join the debate (7 January 2008). "Search agony grows for family of Amy (15) - National News, Frontpage". Independent.ie. Retrieved 2011-09-03.
  2. ↑ "Amy Fitzpatrick, Irish Teenager Missing In Mijas, Spain: New Year's Appeal For Information | World News | Sky News". News.sky.com. Retrieved 2011-09-03.
  3. ↑ "Amy Fitzpatrick: Mother receives 500,000-euro ransom demand". Euro Weekly News. 2009-06-04. Retrieved 2012-03-20.
  4. ↑ Is gangland killer Lucky linked to missing Amy? Evening Herald, 1 May 2012
  5. ↑ Williams, Wendy. "Missing Amy Fitzpatrick: Was she living rough?". theolivepress.com. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  6. ↑ http://www.thejournal.ie/dave-mahon-guilty-manslaughter-2755484-May2016/

External links

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