Disappearance of Fiona Pender cast shadow over home town
On 22 August 1996 Fiona Pender and her mother Josephine headed into Tullamore. Fiona was seven months' pregnant at the time and went to town shopping for baby clothes.
25-year-old Fiona Pender and her mother were very close. Both were excited about the arrival of the baby in October. Fiona was glowing, full of hope and expectation.
"I remember seeing her in Dunnes Stores just before she went missing with her mother and I remember saying hello to Fiona, and hello to Mrs Pender," recalled Olive Davis, a local woman who knew the Pender family.
Fiona later returned to the flat she was sharing with her partner on Church Street in the town. The following morning her partner left for work on his family farm and that is the last time Fiona Pender was ever seen.
Fiona grew up in Connolly Park in Tullamore, not far from the Grand Canal, with her parents and brothers. Her brother Mark died in a motorbike accident in June 1995.
She left school after completing her Inter Cert and trained as a hairdresser and had worked in Clarke's unisex salon in Tullamore. She also worked part-time as a model.
Fiona had been living with her partner in the UK but had moved home shortly before her disappearance. She was outgoing, friendly and had a real flair for fashion, friends said.
"Fiona was beautiful. She really stood out when you saw her coming down the street and she was so outgoing, bubbly, and full of chat," remarked one local woman.
In the days after her disappearance gardaí launched a major operation with searches and public appeals for information. Gardaí suspected from early on in this investigation that Fiona Pender had come to serious harm.
"It was a shock. She was seven months' pregnant. There was a real sadness over the town and everywhere," said Olive Davis.
Disappearing was totally out of character for Fiona Pender. She was very happy to be pregnant and excited about becoming a mother.
Yet since around 6am on 23 August 1996, when her partner said he last saw her, there hasn't been a sighting of Fiona Pender.
Her disappearance has weighed heavily on the Pender family and the wider community in Tullamore and Offaly. Every week since Fiona's disappearance her name has appeared in the parish bulletin in Tullamore as prayers are offered for her.
"I hope they find her for her brother. I know the poor Mum, she died a few years ago and it [Fiona's disappearance] devastated her. The family need closure and for the town, I just think we need it, it's very sad, sad for everybody, everybody involved," said Olive Davis.
In 2008, as a reporter with Newstalk, I sat in the sitting room of Josephine Pender's home as a search took place in Monicknew in the Slieve Bloom mountains.
It followed the discovery of a cross with the words "Fiona Pender. Buried here, August 22nd, 1996" written on it. The remains of the 25-year-old were not found there.
I remember ringing Josephine that morning and asking her to do an interview. She had just finished speaking to my now colleague Fran McNulty and invited me inside.
She never refused an interview. Her belief being that the more she talked about Fiona, the greater chance she might have in finding her.
She couldn't hide the pain; it was etched on her face. In the space of 14 months she had lost two children, Mark in a motorbike accident and Fiona, missing presumed murdered. Her husband Sean died by suicide in 2000, the pain of losing his children was too much to bear, Josephine said.
Sitting with Josephine for half an hour that day gave me a glimpse into the heavy heartbreak she was carrying. She wasn't in great health at the time, yet she vowed never to give up the fight for Fiona.
And she didn't. Even in the weeks before her death, she made a final appeal for information, saying that she wasn't into punishment and just wanted to give Fiona and her unborn child back a bit of dignity and lay them to rest.
Mrs Pender said she thought of her daughter's unborn baby a lot saying that it was terrible to think that someone could harm them and she said she would beg for anyone with information to come forward.
In September 2017, Josephine Pender died having never discovered the fate of her only daughter and her unborn grandchild.
In the almost 29 years since Fiona Pender went missing, gardaí have carried out several searches at locations in Laois and Offaly. Most notably in 1997, five arrests were made including the chief suspect.
More than 300 statements have been taken, and thousands of documents have been gathered however without enough evidence, gardaí have never been able to charge anyone in connection with Fiona Pender's disappearance and murder.
The main suspect is understood to have emigrated, and the Director of Public Prosecutions will need a strong case if there is to be an extradition and a person cannot be extradited solely for the purposes of questioning them.
While these searches have ended, there appears to be a renewed intensity around the investigation this week. Gardaí have always said their primary objective is recovering Fiona.
While they have not indicated what has led them to this week's searches near Clonaslee in Co Laois and near Killeigh in Co Offaly, it is understood that they have information that is being assessed and looked at.
It is understood the searches were focused on finding evidence and not the remains of Fiona Pender.
Gardaí are still appealing for information. They believe there is information in the local community in Tullamore and in the surrounding areas and are asking people who have information, but who didn't feel they were able to give that information in the past, to come forward.
Almost 29 years on and Fiona Pender hasn't been forgotten. There is a memorial on the Grand Canal, not far from where she grew up, which was designed by her brother John.
The inscription reads: "A mother holds her child's hand for only a few moments in time, but she holds them in her heart forever."
Fiona Pender's disappearance and murder has cast a shadow on the town of Tullamore and surrounding areas.
Until her remains are found and she can be finally laid to rest, the pain and heartbreak for those who knew and loved her, lives on.
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