interview with AUDREY FITZPATRICK - MOTHER OF amy FITZPATRicK

‘We think that a man has got something to with it, an English speaking man, and that he’s controlling her,’ said the mother of the Irish girl. Although she’s ‘worn out’, she still hopes that her daughter will show up. ‘I couldn’t deal with all this without David. He’s the reason why I haven’t gone crazy.’
03.07.08 - 15:30 -

Close Send news

Fill in the following fields to send this information to others.

Name Email sender
To Email recipient
Reset    Send

Close Rectify the news

Fill in all fields with details.

Name* Email*
* Required fieldsReset    Send

'Six months on I’d just be happy if Amy called and said she was alright'
Audrey Fitzpatrick pictured in January after her daughter disappeared. / SUR FILE PHOTO
For six months Audrey Fitzpatrick hasn’t been able to rest, hasn’t been able to “live” and hasn’t been able to stop wondering where her daughter Amy is. Her nightmare started on the night of January 1st when the 16 year old girl (she turned 16 on February 7th) said good night to her friend Ashley after they had spent New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day together and headed for home. However she didn’t arrive at the house in the Riviera del Sol development in Mijas Costa where her family live. Audrey hasn’t lost hope that her daughter will show up and in an interview with SUR she appeared “optimistic” despite the fact that in all this time no key clues as to Amy’s whereabouts have been found.
How are you and your family?
We’re absolutely worn out - because we spend all our time working on the search for Amy.
What is life like since your daughter disappeared?
We don’t really live. It’s very difficult to take a break and stop thinking about her.
They say that hope is the last thing that you lose. Is that true?
We don’t lose hope of finding Amy; as long as we’re alive we’ll be optimistic.
During the time that Amy has been missing several hypothesis have been talked about - that Amy left of her own accord or that she is being held against her will. What do you think happened?
At first we thought she’d run away from home, but as the days went on … We think that a man has got something to do with it, definitely an English speaking man, and that he’s controlling Amy.
Amy wasn’t finding adapting to her new life in Mijas easy because of her shyness and the language barrier. Do you think your daughter was happy at home?
If you don’t know her, she’s very introverted. She’s always been shy amongst strangers. Is she happy? One day she was happy and another day she wasn’t, depending on what she was up to that day.
Would you understand it if she had run away?
The only thing we want to know after so long is that she’s okay. If Amy came home it would be a dream come true, but the most important thing is that she contacts someone to let them know that she’s alive. I’d just be happy if she called and said she was alright.
Do you think she could be close by?
As I’ve already said we believe that she’s with someone else; she wouldn’t be capable of doing this on her own. However, I don’t think she’s close by, because Amy, as much as us, is quite well known around here.
Your son Dean went back to Ireland recently to try and get away from everything that’s going on here …
Dean misses his sister more than anything in the world. They’ve always been very close.
The support from your partner, David Mahon, must be a great comfort …
I couldn’t deal with all this without David. You’ve no idea how much he helps me be able to get out of bed every day! He’s the reason why I haven’t gone crazy.
How do you rate the work of the Civil Guards on the case?
The role of the Civil Guards has been significant, as much in the support that they’ve given us as in their speed in acting in the investigation.

THE IRISH SUN WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 10TH 2008

September 14th, 2008

A 10K PHONE BILL, NO FUNDS TO HIRE P.I BUT SEARCH GOES ON

The parents of missing teen Amy Fitzpatrick are facing financial problems after being hit with a 10k mobile phone bill.
Distraught mum Audrey Fitzpatrick and Stepdad Dave Mahon are being crippled by the cost of calls in Spain and Ireland but have vowed their search will go on.
And now pals have set up a fund and trust fund to help with the search for Amy before the family are completely BROKE.
Audrey 40 said “The bills are quite overwhelming at the moment, but no matter what we will never give up.
“Were not looking for money to help with the bills it’s the things like Posters and travel and stuff where you always require help. All the little things add up”
“Ideally we would love to hire a private investigator, that would be brilliant, but at the moment we just can’t afford it.”

The parents of Madeleine McCann spent more than 1 million on private investigators after their daughter vanished in Portugal.

But Audrey and Dave cannot afford that and are heading back to Spain from Dublin to continue the search themselves.
Audrey said “We don’t like being away in case she comes home and were not there”
Amy 16 vanished without a trace on new year’s day this year- and so far Spanish cops have drawn a blank in their hunt for clues.
She disappeared after leaving a friend’s house at about 10pm to walk to her home in Riviera del sol near the village of Mijas in Andalucía

Originally from Dublin Amy lived in the village with her mother, stepfather and Brother Dean. Her Father Christopher Fitzpatrick lives in Donaghmede Dublin.

Last week Audrey and David met with Taoiseach Brian Cowen while visiting Ireland and he vowed to do “all within his power” to help in the search.
The pair met Mr. Cowen for just under an hour at Government Buildings to ask for his help in finding the 16 year old.

But now Family and Friends have launched a fund and website

www.missingamy.com to raise awareness and Money for the struggling Family.
Pal Antoinette McLoughlin said “we are setting up a fund to help out Audrey and David as they are basically going broke trying to keep the campaign alive.”We are trying to highlight the pain and suffering they are going through and raise some money to assist them. “Their last phone bill cost them nearly 10k because of roaming charges and they are suffering from travelling between Ireland and Spain. 

mark.may@the-sun.ie

Taoiseach vows to aid Amy search

September 14th, 2008

 

Friday September 05 2008

THE mother of missing teenager Amy Fitzpatrick met with Brian Cowen at Government Buildings yesterday.

Audrey Fitzpatrick and her partner Dave Mahon are hoping that the Taoiseach’s intervention will help in the investigation into the mysterious disappearance of the 16-year-old in Spain.

Mr Cowen met with the Dublin couple for about an hour to hear the latest developments in the case. The teen disappeared on New Year’s Day in Riviera Del Sol on the Costa Del Sol as she was walking home from a friend’s house.

The Taoiseach’s office promised to contact the Irish embassy in Madrid to help in the investigation.

“At the end of the day, he’s the pulse of Ireland and has more contacts than we have at home,” Ms Fitzpatrick said, adding the couple would host a benefit in Spain next month to raise funds for their ongoing search.

Taoiseach to meet missing girl’s mother

September 14th, 2008

Thursday September 04 2008

The mother of missing teenager Amy Fitzpatrick is due to meet with the Taoiseach this afternoon.

Audrey Fitzpatrick and her partner Dave Mahon will meet with Brian Cowen at Government Buildings.

Dubliner Amy Fitzpatrick (16) vanished on New Year’s Day, while walking to her mother’s Spanish home from a friend’s house on the Costa del Sol.

Amy poster campaign to target ferry routes

September 14th, 2008
7 days ago
 
By Alan O keeffe
Evening Herald Thursday 4th September 2008

The search for missing Irish Teenager Amy Fitzpatrick will be helped by a British Charity’s poster campaign on Passenger Ferries.
The Lucie Blackman Trust will display posters of the Dublin gorl on P&O Ferries vessels travelling on routes between Britain and continental Europe.
Passengers on the busy ferries will be offered leaflets with Amy’s Photograph and details.
Amy was 15 when she went missing while walking to her home on the costa del sol in Spain on the night of New Years day last.
Amy’s Mother Audrey, who was scheduled to meet Taoiseach Brian Cowen at lunchtime today, told the Evening Herald she was delighted with the help from the British charity.
The Trust was set up following the disappearance and murder of Lucie Blackman in Japan in 2000 whos body wa later found in a cave.
Audrey said the help from the charity comes at a very good time as she and her family continue to try to maintain public awareness about Amy’s disappearance.
While the Irish public are aware of the search for Amy, the British public have not been informed sufficiently.
It is Vital that some 200,000 British ex pats living on the costa del sol are made more aware of the search for Amy, she said.
Request
P&O ferries granted a request from the Lucie Blacman Trust that posters of Amy be placed on sites on several ships on its European routes. Including Dover-Calais, Pourtsmouth- Bilbao, Hull- Rotterdam and Hull- zebrugge. P&O Irish Ferries operate on the Dublin-Liverpool route.
Matt Searle, speaking to the Herald on behalf of the trust, said his organisation was well aware of the importance of keeping a missing person’s details in the public eye.
Audrey Fitzpatrick and her Partner Dave Mahon arrived in Dublin yesterday and are planning to stay on in Ireland indefinite to keep the campaign to find Amy as active as possible.
Back in Spain, the owner of a thriving Irish pub in Fuengirola has offered to host a major fundraising event to help the Amy Campaign. Publican Ross Cody, a native of Malahide, assured Audrey that his pogues pub would stage a Major event to help fund the search

Heartless burglars ransack bedroom of missing teenager

September 14th, 2008

 

By Gerard Couzens

Thursday August 21 2008

FORMER Taoiseach Bertie Ahern’s mobile number is contained on a laptop that was stolen by burglars who broke into the home of missing teenager Amy Fitzpatrick’s Spanish home.

The thieves smashed a window to force their way into the three-bedroom house in the Costa del Sol resort of Riviera del Sol near Fuengirola before ransacking it in their search for cash and jewellery.

Amy’s devastated stepdad, Dave Mahon, told yesterday how he returned from the gym to find the teenager’s bedroom turned upside down.

The stolen computer had designs of missing posters of Amy on it, as well as hundreds of vital contact numbers that Dave and Amy’s mum, Audrey, had amassed during their eight-month search for her.

The thieves also stole jewellery belonging to Dave’s mum Kay, who died eight months ago.

The burglars struck between 2pm and 4pm local time yesterday as housewife Audrey (39) was out with a friend and her 38-year-old partner was at the gym.

The couple spent yesterday evening reporting the break-in at the same police station in Fuengirola where they reported Amy missing in January.

Dave said: “They pushed in a window in the TV room to get in. They ransacked the place. We haven’t touched Amy’s room since she disappeared. It was a shrine to her. They’ve turned it upside down and pulled all her clothes out of the wardrobe.

Laptop

“The worst thing is they’ve stolen Audrey’s laptop, which she’d been using in the search for Amy. It had everything on it, poster designs, numbers of the Irish ambassador in Spain, even the mobile number of Bertie Ahern who we met in Dublin while he was still the Taoiseach. Losing it is really going to set us back.”

Amy’s mother Audrey added: “If these people have a heart, I’d urge them to return my laptop. There are numbers on there we’ll never be able to recover.”

Amy (16) disappeared on New Year’s Day after leaving a friend’s home in Riviera del Sol where she had baby-sat the night before.

She told her pal she was heading straight home. She vanished without her passport, change of clothes or money.

Police failed to find any trace of her despite a massive search involving hundreds of volunteers.

- Gerard Couzens

Amy Fitzpatrick