Annie McCarrick's best friend is ‘overwhelmed with emotion, crying over coffee' after developments in case
For over 30 years
Annie McCarrick
's best friend from childhood has been steadfast in the campaign to uncover the truth about her fate, so when Linda Ringhouse woke up on Thursday morning to the news that a
man had been arrested
in connection with her disappearance, she broke down and cried.
Ms McCarrick (26), a young American woman who was living in Ireland at the time, went missing on March 26th, 1993. Ms McCarrick was born in 1967 and grew up in Long Island, New York but fell in love with Ireland and wanted to settle here.
Speaking to The Irish Times from her home on Long Island, New York, her best friend Linda Ringhouse said: 'Well, I'm in shock. I'm overwhelmed with emotion this morning and crying over my coffee.'
She said she couldn't believe her eyes when she saw the breaking story on Irish news media.
READ MORE
[
Annie McCarrick's best friend from childhood: 'I believe she knew the person responsible for her death'
Opens in new window
]
'I've seen this play out in my head, just like this, for 30 plus years. I knew when I met with the new detective team in charge, both here in Bayport and in Dublin, that they were really determined to get to the truth of what happened to Annie. Mrs McCarrick, her family and myself finally knew we were in good hands,' she said.
Adding: 'I'm thinking of all the heartbreak and courage endured by Mrs McCarrick over all these years. So, let's just see what the coming days bring.'
In an Irish Times
news feature
earlier this year, marking the 32nd anniversary of Annie's disappearance, Ringhouse reiterated 'the personal difficulties Ms McCarrick was experiencing at the time of her disappearance'. She observed that Annie was 'In a tumultuous situation' with a person she knew at the time.
Annie McCarrick disappeared without a trace in 1993
'I believe Annie was met either at the door of her apartment or someone pulled up in a car as she came home from her shopping. She dropped everything, thinking she would be home shortly,' said Ms Ringhouse.
The Garda cold case investigation into Annie McCarrick's disappearance from her flat in Sandymount on March 26th, 1993, has uncovered a litany of errors since the case was upgraded to murder in 2023. For almost three decades it led to a false narrative about her last movements.
Linda Ringhouse and, indeed, her family, always challenged this narrative, including the fact that she was in Johnny Fox's pub in Enniskerry on the night of her disappearance.
She maintained all along that 'there would have been a different outcome if concerns expressed by both the family and friends had been taken more seriously by gardaí from the outset'.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
11 minutes ago
- Irish Times
Annie McCarrick case: Cadaver dogs brought in by gardaí searching site
Gardaí investigating the murder of Annie McCarrick have brought in a cadaver dog in the search of a house in Clondalkin. A man, who is in his 60s and originally from Dublin, was arrested on Thursday morning and remains in Garda custody. The search of a house in Clondalkin, for Ms McCarrick's remains or any other evidence, stepped up on Friday when a cadaver dog was brought onto the site. The man arrested for questioning on suspicion of the murder was flagged to gardaí as a possible suspect in the case in the immediate aftermath of the New Yorker vanishing from Sandymount , South Dublin, in 1993. READ MORE Friends of Ms McCarrick were concerned about the man, and the nature of his contacts with the 26-year-old in Dublin. They outlined those concerns, and the specific reasons for them, in fax messages to the Garda investigation team. However, they have always believed the information they supplied was not properly handled and was not factored into the initial inquiry in any meaningful way. The suspect, who is in his 60s and originally from Dublin, was arrested on Thursday morning and remained in Garda custody early on Friday. He was detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, on suspicion of murder, and can be questioned for up to 24 hours, though questioning has been paused to allow breaks for rest. [ Annie McCarrick's best friend is 'overwhelmed with emotion, crying over my coffee' after developments in case Opens in new window ] Gardaí yesterday extended his period of detention to the maximum 24 hours of interviews permitted under law and must either release him without charge, or charge him with an offence, later on Friday. The man has become a successful businessman and now lives outside Dublin. As well as being arrested on Thursday morning, his home was searched. And a house in Clondalkin, west Dublin, that he was linked to was sealed off for searching and excavation, in an operation continuing on Friday morning. Gardaí bring a cadaver dog into the premises, pictured on Friday morning at a house on Monastery Walk, Clondalkin, where gardaí are continueing their search in the investigation into the death of American woman, Annie McCarrick, who disappeared in 1993. Photograph: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin. The Clondalkin property has been renovated by the current occupants, who bought the house over a decade ago. Gardaí have stressed the current occupants are completely unconnected to Ms McCarrick or the murder inquiry now under way. Some of Ms McCarrick's friends in the United States had remained in close and frequent contact with her when she moved back to Ireland in January, 1993, after first studying here. They said she felt pressured and harassed by an Irishman in her social circle in Dublin and that she told them the man struck her when he had been drinking. They flagged those concerns with gardaí in the initial stages of the investigation when she vanished. [ Annie McCarrick: Gardaí made first arrest in 32-year investigation after receiving new information Opens in new window ] However, at the time Ms McCarrick (26) went missing, there was a series of reported sightings of her getting on a bus bound for Enniskerry, Co Wicklow, and also sightings of her in the village. Other reports placed her 6km away in Johnnie Fox's Pub, Glencullen, Co Dublin. Those sightings, since discounted, all related to Friday, March 26th, the day of the last confirmed sighting of the murdered woman at her flat in Sandymount, South Dublin. Much of the Garda's attention in the first phased of investigation focused on pursuing those sightings in Enniskerry and Glencullen. Ms McCarrick knew the man arrested on Thursday, and was very close to him for a period. However, while her friends told gardaí about that man in 1993 – including Ms McCarrick saying he had harassed her and struck her – they felt their information was not actioned by detectives at the time. When none of the claimed sightings of Ms McCarrick in 1993 led to any breakaway, and her remains were never found, the case remained an unsolved missing person's inquiry until it was upgraded to a murder investigation two years ago. In recent years, after a cold case review and fresh investigation, detectives have come to focus on the arrested man as the main suspect in the case. They also have a particular interest in a close associate of his, who they went abroad to interview earlier this year. They believe the suspect and his close associate were together on the weekend Ms McCarrick vanished and detectives have sought to recheck their accounts of their movements, comparing statements taken in recent years. In March 1993 Ms McCarrick, from Long Island, New York, was living in rented accommodation at St Cathryn's Court, Sandymount, with two friends. They last spoke to her at the property on the morning of Friday, March 26th. . Amid rising concerns for her safety, Ms McCarrick was reported missing to gardaí that Sunday, more than 48 hours after the last confirmed sighting of her. Meanwhile, the US lawyer hired by the father of Annie McCarrick to represent the family in the period after her disappearance has said he is 'delighted' there has been arrest and remains hopeful the case will eventually be resolved with a conviction. Michael Griffith has criticised An Garda Síochána over its reluctance to engage with him and others working for the family in the aftermath of her disappearance in March 1993. He suggested then Director of Public Prosecutions Eamonn Barnes had been helpful to the team Mr Griffith had assembled to work on the case on behalf of the McCarrick family but that the Garda was reluctant to share information or engage. 'We met with the Garda. We tried to follow up leads at that time but nothing came of it,' he told RTÉ Radio 1's Morning Ireland programme on Friday. 'In the States here, attorneys tend to share evidence with investigations, with the police, but even though Eamonn Barnes wanted the Garda to open up the file to us, the Garda was quite reclusive about it, and we weren't able to get into the file, although there were a couple of persons of interest, one of whom I'm told may now be in custody.' He said had a meeting with Jean Kennedy Smith, then US ambassador to Ireland, who assured him the Department of State would do everything it could to assist but said this had no impact on the level of co-operation provided by An Garda Síochána. Mr Griffith said the disappearance of their daughter took a very considerable toll on her parents, John, now deceased, and Nancy. 'Obviously there was a lot of stress that came out of this and the McCarricks got divorced.' He said he would like to know what prompted an arrest in the case after so long but he remains hopeful the case will be resolved for the family. An Garda Síochána said they did not respond on individual cases but have a policy of appointing family liaison officers in major cases.
RTÉ News
26 minutes ago
- RTÉ News
Gardaí searching for human remains in McCarrick case
Gardaí investigating the murder of Annie McCarrick, who went missing in Dublin over 32 years ago, have begun searching for human remains. A cadaver dog has been brought in to search a house in Clondalkin which has been sealed off for the past two days. A 62-year-old man arrested on suspicion of the murder of the 26-year-old American woman is still being questioned at a garda station in Dublin. The invasive search of a house in Clondalkin intensified on its second day today when gardaí brought in a cadaver dog. The specialist dog, which is on loan from the PSNI, has been introduced as part of the search of the house, the front driveway and the 100ft back garden. Gardaí have also been using heavy equipment, a mini digger, a concrete saw and a kango hammer to excavate in the search for evidence in the murder investigation. Gardaí say the current residents are not connected in any way with Ms McCarrick or her disappearance. The 62-year-old man, arrested yesterday morning on suspicion of murder by detectives from the Serious Crime Unit, is still being questioned at a Dublin garda station. The businessman, whose home in Co Meath has also been searched, knew Ms McCarrick in the 1990s and is described by gardaí as an associate who moved in her circle. He must be either charged or released later today. Gardaí say they are keeping an open mind as to whether today's search will yield anything and point out the introduction of a cadaver dog is part of the process in cases like this. The search at the Clondalkin house is expected to continue for a number of days. Originally from New York, Annie McCarrick visited Ireland on a school trip as a teenager. Her parents said that she had fallen in love with the country and its way of life. In the late 1980s, she completed her third-level studies at St Patrick's College in Drumcondra and St Patrick's College in Maynooth before returning to New York to study at Stony Brook University. She moved to Ireland permanently in January 1993 and lived at St Cathryn's Court in Sandymount in Dublin with two other tenants. She worked as a waitress at the Courtyard Restaurant in Donnybrook and Café Java on Leeson Street. On 26 March 1993, Ms McCarrick spoke to both of her flatmates before they left separately to travel home for the weekend. She had invited friends to the apartment for dinner the following day and was making plans for her mother to visit the next week. Ms McCarrick had bought groceries on the morning of 26 March in Quinnsworth on Sandymount Road - confirmed by a receipt found in unpacked shopping bags in her apartment. Gardaí said the receipt showed the date and time of her purchases as 26 March at 11.02am. This is the last confirmed activity of Ms McCarrick.
Irish Examiner
an hour ago
- Irish Examiner
Gardaí to use 'every last minute' questioning suspect in Annie McCarrick murder
Gardaí are determined to use every 'last minute' of the time allowed to detain someone for murder in their questioning of a man suspected in the killing of US woman Annie McCarrick more than 30 years ago. This comes as specialist officers continue to search a property in Clondalkin, west Dublin, where the suspect once stayed. The suspect, in his 60s, was arrested on Thursday morning and detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984. This allows, with extensions from senior officers, a maximum detention period of 24 hours, excluding sleep breaks. Gardai pictured this morning at a house on Monastery Walk, Clondalkin, where Gardai are continuing their search in the investigation into the death of American woman, Annie McCarrick. Picture: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin. It is understood that his detention will expire at around 2pm today, by which time he must be either released or charged. Sources have said the man's detention will go to the 'last minute,' as detectives use all the time they are legally permitted to keep someone in custody. As reported yesterday, gardaí had a 'significant amount' of information and evidence to present to the man, including issues relating to past alibis he gave during what was then a missing person's case. Two years ago, gardaí upgraded the case to a murder investigation and have since pursued a line of inquiry focusing on two men. It is understood that the search of the house in Clondalkin was carried out based on 'new information' received by gardaí. Picture Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin. However, gardaí have urged the public not to raise expectations of a breakthrough and to allow developments to unfold. The suspect is the first man arrested in connection with the disappearance and murder of Ms McCarrick on 26 March 1993. She was last seen in Sandymount, southeast Dublin, by her flatmates and was reported missing two days later by a friend. It is understood that the search of the house in Clondalkin was carried out based on 'new information' received by gardaí. Gardaí have stressed that the current occupants of the home have no connection to the case. Read More Man arrested in connection with disappearance and murder of Annie McCarrick
