20-05-2025
Family of missing Esra Uyrun say they just want 'closure' after 14 years
It's one of the most baffling mysteries in the case files of Ireland's missing people: what happened to Esra Uyrun?
The mother-of-one went on an early morning trip to the shop and was never seen again, her car later found abandoned.
Esra, 38, vanished without a trace more than 14 years ago after leaving her home on Collinstown Grove in Clondalkin, Dublin, at around 7.15 am on February 23, 2011.
Esra's silver Renault Twingo was found later that day in a car park at the bottom of Bray Head in Wicklow, but CCTV couldn't determine who was driving the vehicle.
Detectives also discovered that her coin purse, containing her driving licence and a €50 note, was found in the boot of the car.
Her heartbroken family say they now just want 'closure' regardless of whether it's 'good or bad'.
Speaking about her heartache, Esra's sister Berna Fidan told The Irish Mirror: 'It's literally taken over our lives. Because there's not a day that goes by when we don't talk about Esra or think about Esra."
Berna, who has tirelessly led a campaign to find Esra since her disappearance, added: 'Everything we do and plan is all around what we can do to see if we can get some information.
'I just don't know where to take it anymore.
'Somebody must know what happened. I don't believe anybody just goes missing, and nobody's seen or heard anything. Somebody must know.'
Berna said the entire family has been plunged into turmoil since Esra's disappearance and said her mum deserves to know what happened to her daughter before she passes away.
Holding back tears, she explained: 'Mum's health isn't getting any better. The woman is holding on for dear life.
'We literally had her in hospital a few months ago, and they were trying to say to us, 'Oh, get yourself ready for the end of life' … she came back home, and she's doing okay.
'She's holding on but she's got so many medical issues. I mean, she's over 80 now, and it's not fair on her to go without knowing what's happened to her daughter.
'It's not fair on anybody. Her son's grown up not knowing his mum's laugh. She doted on him. It's not fair on anybody. Good or bad, we just need some form of closure.'
Esra was from a Turkish family and grew up in London, but she moved to Ireland after her husband Ozgur got a job here. After her disappearance, Ozgur and their son Emin moved back to England to be closer to family.
Berna said that over the years, she has racked her brain and has imagined every possible scenario.
The 60-year-old added: 'So many scenarios go through our head, and none of them are good.
'You build pictures in your head. The worst scenarios that could happen. I'm thinking - was she taken?
'Has she been literally murdered and buried somewhere that we don't know of, or is she locked up somewhere?
'I don't believe for a moment that my sister ran away or committed suicide… she had no need to run away, if she wanted to come home, she had a flat here in London.
'She could have just packed her bags, taken her son, and come home. If you're going to run away, you're going to take things with you.
'You're not just going to disappear. And the fact that her purse came out of the boot of the car also concerns me… your mind starts to go into overdrive, and you start thinking, 'Was she in the boot of the car, and it fell out of her pocket?'.
'There are so many scenarios, and unfortunately, they're not good ones.'
Berna explained that there has been no progress in the Garda probe and previously revealed that attempts to enhance CCTV footage of Esra's car weren't successful.
There have also been no leads whatsoever despite multiple media appearances and an extensive Garda investigation.
She also revealed that Gardaí have hours of footage which was harvested from the day Esra went missing but it hasn't been checked.
Berna continued: 'That's my only hope at the moment. Maybe if I could sit there, I said to (the Gardaí) 'Look, I've worked all my life and I'm still working full time.
'I'm 60 years old. I said I can take a career break. I can take three months, six months off. If I had to sit in a room and watch all the CCTV from hours to hours to hours, I will do that.
'If (the Gardai) haven't got the manpower to do it, I will come over and do it and they're still not allowing me.
'I've known my sister all of her life. I know the way she walks and the way she moves, I would recognise her more than (the Guards) would, and I can't seem to get that through to them.'
Berna said she has seen footage of Esra's car, which nearly collided with another car in Bray, but is convinced her sister wasn't behind the wheel.
She continued: 'Show me one image of my sister driving that car after it left the house. I'm not disputing she got into that car to go to the shops - but her car never got to the shops.'
When asked if Berna believed her sister's case should be upgraded, she said: 'There's no evidence to suggest anything else. That's why it won't be upgraded. There's no evidence of anything, so what can they upgrade it to?
'I think I've lost faith in the fact that I'm going to find her alive because it's been so long, and I know my sister, if she was capable of getting to a phone - she would have called us.
'We're a very close family, and all she wanted was a family unit.'
