AMY FITZPATRICK 15 - Costa del Sol (Spain) - 05/01/08

Euro Weekly News

22 April 2010

Calls surge as 1million euros offered in hunt for Amy‎

http://www.euroweeklynews.com/2010042277590/news/costa-del-sol/calls-surge-as-1million-euros-offered-in-hunt-for-amy.html

Irish Independent

24 April 2010

Why we're offering €1m for our Amy‎

"The money has been put up by four friends of mine," Mahon says. "They put in €250,000 each, but want to remain anonymous. The cash is being offered for one month and we feel that it will be a big enough incentive for anyone who knows important information to contact us.

"So far, we've had 60 phone calls, but the vast majority of them are scams and hoaxes. But three calls are being taken seriously by the police.

http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/why-were-offering-83641m-for-our-amy-2150926.html

Irish Examiner

30 April 2010

Amy's mother furious Cowen cannot meet her

THE mother of missing teenager Amy Fitzpatrick says she is furious with the Government yesterday after being told a meeting with the Taoiseach was impossible.

Her hopes of talks with Foreign Affairs Minister Micheál Martin during a trip back to Ireland were also dealt a blow.

http://www.examiner.ie/ireland/amys-mother-furious-cowen-cannot-meet-her-118579.html

Irish Independent

30 April 2010

Cowen has abandoned us, claims missing girl's mum

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/cowen-has-abandoned-us-claims-missing-girls-mum-2158969.html

Hi Twiggy, I was just about to post as was thinking about Amy. Thank you for being so on the ball as we say here with quick postings !

My take on this, being an Irish resident, is you can't just turn up hoping to meet top leaders in Ireland. Brian Cowen is equivalent to Prime Minister and Micheal Martin is Foreign Affairs Minister. I believe Amy's Mum booked flights before confirmation of meetings. Of course the publicity will get them somewhere now as a family no doubts ! If they are still in Ireland I expect a meeting should take place this coming week.

In case anyone knows anyone holidaying there please help in your own way promoting Amy's case. I myself live not far now from her local Irish church so think of her an awful lot.

Irish Independent

6 May 2010

Thieves take vital papers in hunt for missing Amy‎

IMPORTANT documents relating to the disappearance of Irish teenager Amy Fitzpatrick were stolen when burglars broke into the home of her family's lawyer, it was revealed yesterday.

The thieves struck on Monday night at Spanish lawman Juan de la Fuente's detached €1m villa near Benalmadena on the Costa del Sol.

Amy's mum Audrey Fitzpatrick (41) and stepdad Dave Mahon (38) had recently handed him files of paperwork on the search for their daughter.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/thieves-take-vital-papers-in-hunt-for-missing-amy-2166609.html

gosh that is terrible. Oh I'm doubtful the Guardai Civil aren't at least a bit interested though ! Theft of confidential documentation HAS to be a concern !

The deadline for the 1,000,00 Euro reward for information leading to the whereabouts of Amy is coming up soon!!!

I wonder if there has been any useful information handed over to the police??

The reward is available until 19 May 2010.

Euro Weekly News

21 May 2010

No solid leads as 1m euro reward period in hunt for Amy ends‎

http://www.euroweeklynews.com/2010052178825/news/costa-del-sol/no-solid-leads-as-1m-euro-reward-period-in-hunt-for-amy-ends.html

Olive Press

28 may 2010

Amy: Mystery theft in Spain
CRUCIAL documents regarding the disappearance of missing teenager Amy Fitzpatrick have been seized.

http://www.theolivepress.es/2010/05/28/amy-mystery-theft-in-spain/

Irish Herald

14 June 2010

Plea to festival fans over missing Amy‎

THE mother of missing Amy Fitzpatrick is launching two new attempts to seek help in the search for her daughter.

Audrey Fitzpatrick said 85,000 cups bearing a photograph of Amy were to be distributed to concert fans at a huge event in Spain in the coming days.

She and her partner are hiring an aircraft to pull a giant photograph of Amy across the skies over Southern Spain.

The bold new moves come after a €1m reward for information to solve the mystery of Amy's disappearance failed to create a breakthrough in the police investigation.

http://www.herald.ie/national-news/city-news/plea-to-festival-fans-over-missing-amy-2219958.html

Olive Press

17 June 2010

Amy's mum blasts searching Irish TV interview‎

THE mother of missing teenager Amy Fitzpatrick has slammed a national TV interview which questioned her daughter’s lifestyle.

Despite admitting her daughter was not “an angel” Audrey Fitzpatrick insisted she “didn’t drink or take drugs”.

http://www.theolivepress.es/2010/06/17/amy%E2%80%99s-mum-blasts-searching-irish-tv-interview/

The Free Library Press

3 June 2010

Spanish Cops looking in WRONG place for missing teen Amy says private detective.. EXCLUSIVE

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Spanish+cops+looking+in+WRONG+place+for+missing+teen+Amy+says+private...-a0215658906


** This is an old article it is actually dated the 3 January 2010.***
I believe it was only recently added or bumped by Google!!!
(Articles from Sunday Mirror (London, England) (January 3, 2010))
On the 10 January I added 3 articles dated 31 December, 1 January and 2 January. This report was not online at the time.
It is unusual that it has taken so long for this article to appear!! Twiglet

I think about Amy every week. I am going to send the family in Ireland a card that we are thinking of them. I am within an hour of her home area.If anyone wants a message included,please pm.

An old video for Mother's Day from Amy's Mum Audrey. Please help this Mum.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPWMMTSRfpY&feature=related

Lots of chat on open Facebook pages that news has gone very quiet in Amy's case. Hope truth will be found out as such a long time now.

Northside People

29 December 2010

We'll never give up hope

Amy's aunt in emotional anniversary appeal

The Family of a missing Northside teenager say they will never lose hope of finding her as they brace themselves for the third anniversary of her mysterious disappearance.


On January 1, 2008, Amy Fitzpatrick (16) from Coolock, went missing in Mijas, Spain, while walking home from a friend's house and hasn't been seen since.

New Year's Day will be hugely emotional for Amy's family and relatives who have tirelessly searched and appealed for any information that might lead them to finding her.

Amy's heartbroken father Christopher will join his sister Christine Kenny and their relatives in Donaghmede to release a Chinese lantern on the anniversary of Amy's disappearance.

Amy's aunt, Christine, has been amongst those working tirelessly over the last three years to keep the case in the public's mind.

The family say they will never give up the search for Amy who would be 19 on February 7, "Each day we pray and hope for some news", Christine told the Northside People.


"Somebody knows something and we really want them to come forward to help us to find Amy.

"The past three years have been heartbreaking for our family. We will never give up our search for Amy.

"We'd like to thank everyone who has helped us in our search but we would please ask that they continue to help us by keeping Amy's posters up around Spain.

"There doesn't seem to be anything happening with the case but it's not for the want of pushing and putting pressure on the investigators".

The last three years have been devastating and frustrating for the family who feel not enough is being done to find Amy.

Ms. Kenny is heavily involved in the campaign to find Amy on our behalf of her brother, whose health has deteriorated since the loss of his beloved daughter.

" I took this on for the love of Amy and my brother", Christine explained.

"Christopher thought she'd be found by now and he's literally broken hearted at this stage. He was extremely close to her and he'd speak to her quite frequently. He misses those phonecalls something terrible.

"All children should have somebody who will fight to find them."

Christine's search for Amy is even more meaningful to her as her own son died suddenly last year aged just 24.

" I know what it's like to lose a child but the difference is that I know where my child is and that he has a resting place", she said.

"I still have hope that we will get the information we need to lead us to Amy.

"Hopefully this article might refresh people's memories because I know there were people from Ireland who were in Spain at the time of her disappearance and they might have seen something".

Christine has been involved in a campaign not just to find Amy but also to have a Europ wide missing persons alert system put in place.She belives this could help to prevent similar cases.

"Not enough is being done to find missing children and I have been campaigning for this alert system for three years", she added.

"I met with MEP Gay Mitchell recently who actually took the time to sit down and listen to what I had to say about the need for such a system. " His feedback was very positive and he's going to bring the proposal to Brussels to see if he can get it passed.

"Something has to be done to highlight the need for this system".

Anyone with any information on Amy's whereabouts is asked to contact Christine and her family though

www.searchforamy.com

* A photo in article shows a petition with many signatures for the Europe-wide campaign to help missing children.

Costa del Sol News

Published 2010-12-27

from: Jim Mackie

Third Year Anniversary Of Amy Fitzpatrick's Disappearance Approaches

The teenager went missing after spending the day with her friend in Mijas Costa

According to reports in the press there is no new evidence in the case of the missing Irish teenager Any Fitzpatrick

The anniversary of her disappearance takes place on New Years Day

The young Irish girl was just 15 when she went missing on the 1st January 2008 after leaving her friends to walk home.

http://www.costadelsol.st/news/news_pres.php3?nr=800082992&type=1

Irish Examiner

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

By Nick Bramhill

Mother is convinced missing Amy is still alive

THE mother of missing schoolgirl Amy Fitzpatrick is convinced her daughter is still alive and believes she is living with an older man who has brainwashed her.

Amy’s mother Audrey revealed this week that she will spend New Year’s Eve — the third anniversary of her daughter’s disappearance — retracing the last known steps of the 15-year-old schoolgirl.

The Dublin born teenager vanished on New Year’s Day 2008 as she walked home from a friend’s house in Spain’s Costa Del Sol.

A heartbroken Audrey urged her daughter to pick up the phone just to let her know she is safe.

"I’m certain she’s still alive and won’t stop looking for her until she is found.

"On New Year’s Eve I will walk back over the route she took when she disappeared, and go over every single step. That same night I’ll also be putting up posters of her and lighting candles.

"She’s somewhere, but I don’t know where. But I believe she was smitten after meeting someone and thought the grass would be greener to go off with him. It’s probably an older man, who brainwashed her into going to live with him. That’s the only thing I can think that happened."

Audrey and partner David Mahon have also revealed they are taking steps to ease their constant heartache by moving from the Malaga home where Amy, now 18, lived with them up to the day she was last seen.

Audrey said: "We’re in the middle of moving at the moment. We’re staying in the area, but we decided to move because there are too many painful memories here."

Despite receiving no positive leads on Amy’s disappearance, Audrey has vowed to step up her campaign next year to locate her.

"I’ll never give up and I have received tremendous support from the Spanish authorities who have been very good. Unlike the McCanns, the case is still open and I receive a call from the police whenever they come up with anything.

"We’ve been all over Europe raising awareness about her disappearance and we’ll continue doing it until she’s found. And I’m still on the computer every day answering emails about her.

"I don’t know how we’re going to progress the campaign next, but we’ll come up with something.

"More than anything else in the world, I want Amy to pick up the phone just to let me know she’s OK. I can’t understand why she wouldn’t want to do that. There was no reason for her to be angry with me. As I’ve said before, we hadn’t been arguing before her disappearance."

Devout Catholic Audrey also told how she draws inner strength from her unwavering faith.

"I talk to God a lot and don’t know where I’d be now without my religion.

"Hopefully 2011 will be the year that my prayers are answered and God guides her back to us."

http://www.examiner.ie/home/mother-is-convinced-missing-amy-is-still-alive-140575.html#ixzz19c93EO3Q

Journal.ie

29/12/10

Mother of missing Amy believes daughter is still alive

Amy Fitzpatrick has not been seen since January 1, 2008, when she went missing after leaving a friend's house in the Costa del Sol.

THE MOTHER of a Dublin teenager who went missing in Spain almost three years ago has said she still believes her daughter is alive – and that she has been brainwashed by an older man.

Amy Fitzpatrick (then 15) disappeared on the way home from a friend’s house in the Costa del Sol at 10pm on New Year’s Day in 2008, and has not been seen since.

Her mother Audrey told today’s Irish Examiner that she would mark the anniversary of Amy’s disappearance this Saturday by retracing the last known steps of her schoolgirl daughter before she vanished.

“She’s somewhere, but I don’t know where,” she said.

But I believe she was smitten after meeting someone and thought the grass would be greener to go off with him. It’s probably an older man, who brainwashed her into going to live with him. That’s the only thing I can think that happened.

Audrey had hired a private investigator in the aftermath of her daughter’s disappearance, but no trace of the girl was ever found.

Amy was 5’6″ and had black hair at the time of her disappearance. She and her mother moved to Spain from Clarehall in Dublin seven years ago.

A website, http://www.searchforamy.com/ remains active in the search for the missing Dubliner.

http://www.thejournal.ie/mother-of-missing-amy-believes-daughter-is-still-alive-2010-12/

Euro Weekly News

Thursday, 30 December 2010 10:34

1093 days since Amy Fitzpatrick vanished

Costa del Sol - It is now 1,093 days since teenager Amy Fitzpatrick vanished into thin air near her home on the Costa del Sol. Amy's disappearance on New Year’s Day, 2008, has left her Irish mother Audrey Fitzpatrick distraught. But despite it being almost three years to the day since she last saw her daughter, she has not given up hope.

Making a fresh call for help from the public to provide information, she says: “It could be residents in the area, it could be anyone who was on holiday in the area at the time, it could be anyone at all,” she says.

“Please keep your ears and eyes open. Please send us any information you have no matter how insignificant it may seem.

“There has to be one person somewhere who knows something” she insists.

“No-one has been caught, which means they are still out there. If it happened once it can happen again.”

Amy was aged 15 when she disappeared, at approximately 10pm, after saying goodbye to her close friend Ashley Rose. The girls had been babysitting Ashley’s brother at her friend’s house in Mijas Costa.

Amy should have arrived at her home on the Urbanisation Riviera del Sol at about 10 minutes later, as it was only a short walk away. But, she never arrived.

Amy, who had black hair, blue eyes and a pale complexion at the time of her disappearance, was not carrying any money, phone or passport when she went missing.

Following her disappearance, a massive search involving hundreds of people was launched amidst speculation that perhaps she had run off.

However another theory is that she may have been abducted; that a white van might have been involved; that she may have sent an email to make contact; that she may have eloped with a man.

All proved to be dead ends.

In June 2009 her mother Audrey revealed that she received a call from a man she described with an African accent.

“He said 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. Yes or no, send your answer now and will send you all the info you need.’

“After the text, I fell apart. I’d being holding on for those five hours praying for news, and then even after that, two hours later, he text again saying he was still waiting on my answer,” says Audrey.

The Guardia Civil and a private investigator followed up on the numbers the text had been sent from, but they were both from unregistered pre-pay phones.

“Even if he has no news on Amy, he is some sick b******,” she ends.

In April, 2010 Amy’s family announced that for one month anyone providing information leading to her being found would receive a €1 million reward.

Despite many phone calls there were no solid leads.

If you have any information about Amy Fitzpatrick call +34 617 561 319 or email missingamy@live.co.ukThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

www.missingamy.net

http://www.euroweeklynews.com/2010123085254/news/costa-del-sol/1093-days-since-amy-fitzpatrick-vanished.html

Herald.ie

30th December 2010

by Conor Feehan

Mum fears daughter being held by 'Fritzl'

ANNIVERSARY: Three years since teen went missing in Spain

The mother of missing Dublin teenager Amy Fitzpatrick has said the Josef Fritzl case re-inforced her fear that her daughter could be a prisoner in someone's home close to where she disappeared on New Year's Day in Spain three years ago.

Amy was just 15 when she vanished while walking home from a friend's house near Mijas on the Costa del Sol at 10pm on January 1, 2008.

Today her mother Audrey told the Herald she believes Amy, who would now be 18, is still alive, and is either "very nearby or 1,000 miles away".

"It could be a situation like the Josef Fritzl case where he held his daughter hidden in his house for years, or else Amy is 1,000 miles away in a country in Europe with no border controls," said Audrey.

Abused

"She could be down the street for all we know. It has happened in other places."

Austrian Fritzl was discovered in 2008 to be keeping his daughter and the children she had by him in a separate compound of their suburban house in Amstetten.

His crimes emerged when his daughter Elisabeth Fritzl (42) told police that she had been held captive for 24 years in a concealed corridor part of the basement area of the family home, and that Fritzl had physically assaulted, sexually abused, and raped her numerous times during her imprisonment, resulting in the births of seven children and one miscarriage.

When the eldest daughter, Kerstin, became seriously ill, Josef acceded to Elisabeth's pleas to take her to a hospital, triggering a series of events that eventually led to discovery.

"Amy could also be living with someone who has persuaded her not to contact anyone, or who has convinced her that we are angry at her, but all we want is for her to contact us and let us know she is okay," pleaded Audrey.

"We can only hope that with a more adult mind, she will be 19 in February, she would make that call if she could," she added.

Audrey and her partner David Mahon, today moved home to a new address nearby because of the strain of living in the house Amy had lived in.

"I have been sleeping in Amy's room all the time, and it is time to move on," said Audrey.

Babysitting

"I will put Amy's things in storage, and we are not moving far. We are very well known here and if Amy makes any contact people will know where to find us. We have said before we will not leave Spain, and that is still the case."

Amy had taken a short-cut up a dirt lane after babysitting near her home, and vanished without her passport or money.

She was originally from Donaghmede but moved to Spain in 2004 with her mother.

Her brother Dean has returned to Ireland to live with their father, Christopher Fitzpatrick, and they are in monthly contact.

"We all talk to each other on the first of every month," said Audrey.

Audrey told the Herald that she still has regular meetings with Spanish authorities and investigators, but that no new evidence or leads have come to light.

http://www.herald.ie/national-news/mum-fears-daughter-being-held-by-fritzl-2478667.html

Twiglet has posted an article on our blog:

Amy Fitzpatrick
Missing for Three Years on 1st January 2011

http://findmadeleineblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/amy-fitzpatrick-missing-for-3-years.html

I sent a link to the Search For Amy website www.searchforamy.com

I received the following reply from her father:


Hi Tezza

Thank you so much for your help. We really appreciate any help we get in our search for Amy.

Christine & Christopher

Typically Spanish

Dec 30, 2010

Three years since Amy Fitzpatrick disappeared from Mijas

The young Irish girl went missing while walking home on New Year's Day 2008

This Saturday, January 1 2011, will be three years since the 15 year old Irish girl Amy Fitzpatrick missing from Mijas was last seen. She disappeared after a leaving a friend’s house in Urbanisation Calypso to walk back to her home on the Riviera del Sol Urbanisation in Mijas Costa.

Speaking to the EFE news agency this Thursday, the family’s lawyer, Juan de la Fuente, said there have been no solid clues to Amy’s whereabouts this year, despite a reward of 1 million € which was offered by the family. The main response, he said, was from ‘clairvoyants or people who wanted to laugh at the family’.

He noted 5 telephone calls received which he said corroborated information which the family had had ‘in mind’ since Amy first went missing, mentioning two British people known both to Amy and to her family. It’s understood that one is resident in Spain and the other in the UK.

The family still believes that Amy did not leave of her own free will.

De la Fuente announced a new campaign by Amy’s mother, Audrey Fitzpatrick, and her partner, Dave McMahon, so that Amy will not be forgotten. They’ll be visiting towns along the Costa del Sol throughout the year, a different town on the first day of each month. They’ll be starting in Mijas on February 1, where they’ll meet Town Hall representatives and will be putting up posters with Amy’s picture.

The family lawyer indicated that Amy’s family also hopes to arrange a meeting with the Irish Prime Minister after the elections which take place in Ireland next February.

http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_28522.shtml#ixzz19gnLX33e

The Olive Press

6 January 2011

Hope still alive to find Amy Fitzpatrick

http://www.theolivepress.es/2011/01/06/hope-still-alive-to-find-amy-fitzpatrick/