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The tragic disappearance of Fiona Pender
Fiona Pender was a 25 year old Irish woman who vanished from her home in Tullamore, Ireland on August 23rd 1996. At the time of her disappearance, Fiona was 7 months pregnant. Despite an enormous police investigation and numerous campaigns for information, she has never been found.
Fiona was the only daughter of Sean and Josephine Pender, born on July 13th 1971. She also had two brothers, Mark and John. Tragically, however, Mark was killed in a motorbike accident in June 1995, after his bike hit a verge and swerved into oncoming traffic. Not much is known about Fiona's early life, but her brother John would later recall "I've nothing but good memories of childhood with her. She was bright and bubbly and she always had a smile on her face."
By August 1996, Fiona was sharing a small apartment with her boyfriend John Thompson. The couple were living on Church Street in the small town of Tullamore, having returned to Ireland from London in the winter of 1995. At this stage, Fiona was working as a hairdresser and part-time model. On the surface, her relationship seemed normal and happy; she was 7 months pregnant, had her own little home and lived with her partner. However, under the surface, things were not as perfect as they seemed. It's alleged that in early 1996, while in the initial stages of pregnancy, John had strangled Fiona to the extent that she lost consciousness and had blood vessels burst in her eye. She later confided the details of this event to her brother John but swore him to silence, stating that she didn't want to worry her parents. She believed that her partner had changed his ways and thus, had forgiven him for attacking her.
On Thursday 22nd August, Fiona and her mother Josephine went out shopping, hoping to buy clothes for her baby that was due in a little over 2 months time. During the course of the day, they made two trips to the Bridge shopping centre in Tullamore, with Fiona being described as "in good form". She had also told her mother that she was looking for a bigger house to live in, as their current apartment wouldn't be big enough for the couple and their new child. After they'd finished shopping, Fiona and Josephine got a taxi back to the Pender home, approximately 10 minutes away. Josephine fondly recalls how Fiona started flicking through a copy of Hello magazine and showed her father a photo of the singer Eric Clapton holding up a salmon that he'd caught. Sean was getting his own fishing gear together that afternoon in preparation for an upcoming trip and the two had fallen about laughing and joking at the image. After having lunch and catching up for a few hours, Fiona was walked home by her parents and brother John. Josephine vividly remembered this moment, stating "My son John joined us, and the three of us walked Fiona back to her flat at Church Street. We walked into the flat with her. It was around 7 o'clock and I gave her a kiss. I remember clearly, as myself and John walked across the road I waved back at her. And that's the last memory I have of Fiona; her little face at the door."
On Friday 23rd August, Josephine called round to Fiona's flat and knocked on the door but she got no response. She noticed that the blinds were still down, and assuming that Fiona might have been sleeping, she decided to leave. She also remembered that some of Fiona's friends had returned home from America and figured that she could have been out with them, catching up. With little cause for concern, Josephine headed home. The following evening, on Saturday 24th August, Josephine and John decided to go and say hello to Fiona and the two made their way to her flat. Worryingly, there was still no response and the flat was in darkness with the blinds still drawn. Josephine immediately knew that something was horribly wrong and hurried home to call Fiona's partner, John Thompson. John explained that he hadn't seen Fiona since the morning of the 23rd at around 6am, when he'd left the flat to go and work on his family's farm, which is where he'd been ever since. However, he agreed to meet the Pender family and they all went to the local Garda station to report Fiona missing that night.
Although Fiona was reported missing on Saturday 24th, it was Monday 26th before an appeal was made and an investigation was launched. By then, it was obvious that Fiona wasn't in any of her usual spots and nobody had seen or spoken to her since the 22nd. With the knowledge that she was 7 months pregnant, a nationwide appeal was made by midday on Monday and a huge investigation was immediately launched. A thorough examination of the flat revealed absolutely nothing, with no signs of a disturbance or break in. In fact, Josephine noted that Fiona's shopping bags were in exactly the same spot as they had been on the 22nd and that nothing had been unpacked. Ponds, bogland, forests and mountains were all searched over the following weeks but they were eventually called off, having uncovered absolutely nothing. Fiona's due date eventually passed and it was at this stage that reality began to sink in for her family as they realised that Fiona wouldn't be coming home.
Months passed with seemingly very little progress but then, in April 1997, John Thompson, his father and his 3 sisters were arrested and taken to Tullamore Garda station. They were interviewed for 12 hours straight but eventually released and returned back to their respective homes, with no charges pressed. However, it was later revealed that Garda considered John a suspect in Fiona's disappearance. Also around this time, some interesting information came to light by two different witnesses. One man, who had been walking home from a pub on Church Street at around 2am on Friday 23rd, had observed two men loading a "Large, bulky item that was wrapped in carpet" into the back of a large 4x4 type vehicle. A short time later, another man had been driving along a small country road in the Slieve Bloom mountains, approximately 20 miles from Tullamore, when a large 4x4 type vehicle came driving towards at him at extremely high speed and in an erratic manner, almost forcing him off the road. He didn't get a good look at the driver but he could recall that the car had a large sticker on the windscreen that said "Keep her lit". Whilst neither the vehicle, nor the two men have been identified, it was alleged that John Thompson owned a large 4x4 that also had an identical window sticker.
Several years passed with no updates in the case but tragically, on March 31st 2000, Sean Pender took his own life, his body being discovered by his son John. Josephine would go on to say that Fiona's disappearance is what killed Sean, stating "My husband cried every night for his children. He looked like a man with cancer: he was fading away, he looked so weak. He become so sick because of what happened to our family, he went so low and he just couldn't take any more. He's at peace now. I believe he's in heaven because he already suffered and went through hell here on earth."
In May 2008, a small cross was found in Monicknew Woods, in the Slieve Bloom mountains, reading "Fiona Pender. Buried here August 22nd 1996." Searches were carried out in the area but these revealed nothing. However, Garda don't believe that this was a hoax and they have stated that they find it interesting that the cross says she was buried on the 22nd whenever she was allegedly last seen by John on the morning of the 23rd. John Thompson left Ireland for Canada in 2012 but in 2014, was arrested and charged with numerous offences, including sexual assault and making death threats to his wife. Video footage had been found on various laptops that depicted the couple engaged in sexual activities, but John's wife had no memory or recollection of the events and believed that John had drugged and then raped her, recording himself committing the act. She also told investigators that she had found a similar tape several years earlier when they were still living in Ireland. She had confronted John and he had reportedly stormed off, vanishing for a week. When he returned, he told her that he wanted to move to Canada as they didn't have an extradition treaty with Ireland. Most interestingly, she told police that one night, while in a terrible rage, John had told her "You know I've done it before. They'll never find you. You'll end up like her." The only reason she hadn't spoken out sooner was because she was so scared for her safety, noting John's bad temper and violent tendencies. Shockingly, in October 2015, John walked free from court after the judge ruled that it couldn't be determined that he had actually commited nonconsensual acts against his wife and the case was thrown out. However, John's wife filed for divorce and the couple separated.
Using information given to them by John's wife before the trial, Garda began a fresh dig at a new location in the Slieve Bloom mountains in December 2014. She had told investigators that John had taken her there over 10 years before and told her that Fiona was buried there, reminding her that she would end up in the same place if she stepped out of line. However, the dig revealed nothing and Garda later determined that John must have deliberately misled her in an effort to throw investigators off the scent.
Devastatingly, in September 2017, Josephine Pender passed away after a battle with cancer, never seeing her daughters case solved or anyone brought to justice for her disappearance. John Pender has now taken up the mantle, campaigning tirelessly for information that might see his sister and her child brought home so that they can be laid to rest with their parents and brother. Sadly, the only suspect in her case is walking free on the other side of the world and there has been absolutely no evidence that could help investigators. Unfortunately, because of this, her final resting place is still unknown and her case tragically remains unsolved.
Sources:
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/cri...suspect-and-a-motive-but-no-justice-1.3221455
en.m.wikipedia.org
Gardai believe the suspect in the murder and disappearance of Fiona Pender may have misled the witness who gave them information about the missing woman's alleged burial site that was excavated over the past fortnight.
m.independent.ie
www.irelandsvanishingtriangle.com
Josephine Pender made an emotional plea for information about her missing daughter just three weeks ago.
www.thejournal.ie
Missing by Barry Cummins
www.bbc.com
www.rte.ie
www.bbc.co.uk
www.suzylamplugh.org
