Dilip Kuner
THE father of missing Irish teen Amy Fitzpatrick has put out a heart-breaking plea for information 17 years after the Dubliner disappeared while she was walking home after babysitting.
Amy, who vanished between Calahonda and Riviera del Sol, near Fuengirola, Spain, in the early hours of New Year’s Day 2008, lived on the Costa del Sol with her mother Audrey, brother Dean and stepdad David Mahon.
The 15-year-old had spent New Year’s Eve in 2007 with her friends, Ashley and Debbie Rose, just a few hundred yards from her house but she never made it back home.
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In a bitter twist to the story Mahon was later convicted of killing Amy’s brother, Dean, 23, in 2013 during a row. He served five years in jail for manslaughter and is still together with Audrey Fitzpatrick.
Christopher Fitzpatrick, Amy and Dean’s biological father, and Christine Kenny, their aunt, continue their tireless efforts to find answers and bring closure to this heart-wrenching case. In a poignant statement, they expressed the raw emotions that persist 17 years after Amy’s disappearance:
“It’s been 17 years since Amy disappeared, and the pain feels just as raw as it did that day. Our hearts are shattered, our lives forever changed, and the ache of not knowing where she is or what happened to her is unbearable.”
“To anyone out there who knows anything – please, we beg you help us bring Amy home. Even after all these years, we need answers. We need closure.”
Despite the passage of time, Spanish police have not given up hope of finding Amy. The Guardia Civil continues to investigate any leads that emerge, though the case remains challenging due to the lack of substantial evidence.
Christine Kenny has been pushing for the case to be upgraded from a missing person investigation to a murder inquiry. She has criticised both Irish and Spanish authorities for their lack of progress.
And the family has initiated a petition for an EU-wide right to cold case reviews for all missing people abroad, advocating for reviews at one-year, five-year, and 10-year intervals.
They urge anyone with information, no matter how small, to come forward and help bring Amy home.
