Latest news with #missingPersons
Irish Times
4 days ago
- General
- Irish Times
Fiona Pender murder investigation: Gardaí conclude search of Offaly bogland
Gardaí have concluded a search of bogland in Offaly as part of the Fiona Pender murder investigation. Gardaí confirmed that the search and excavation for the missing woman's remains on lands at Graigue, Killeigh, finished on Tuesday evening. The operation took place over two days, near Ms Pender's native Tullamore, Co Offaly, which is a relatively short period for such operations in historical homicide cases. However, Garda sources said the search and dig was never expected to take any longer than 48 hours. READ MORE Early on Monday, Garda Headquarters confirmed the search had begun, adding the Pender case had been upgraded from a missing persons inquiry to a murder investigation . Ms Pender, a 25-year-old hairdresser, she was last seen at her flat on Church Street, Tullamore, early in the morning of Friday, August 23rd, 1996. The man who was in a relationship with Ms Pender when she vanished had criticised the initial Garda investigation, including the fact he was arrested for questioning, and that a farm slurry tank and well had not been searched. John Thompson, who has lived in Canada for many years, told gardaí Ms Pender had been in the flat when he left for work that morning. Despite a very significant search operation, including large sections of the Grand Canal being drained, no trace of Ms Pender has ever been found. She was seven months pregnant at the time and when she vanished a major Garda investigation got under way within days. Mr Thompson, who was the father of Ms Pender's unborn child, was angered by the fact gardaí appeared to base some of their investigation into her disappearance on a theory that he was somehow involved. 'It is just not good enough for them to suggest that we disposed of her and then leave it at that,' Mr Thompson, then aged 24 years, said in an interview with The Irish Times in August 1997 , a year after the disappearance, adding he took a 'dim view' of the fact he had been arrested. Mr Thompson spoke to The Irish Times four months after he had been arrested for questioning about the case, on suspicion of withholding information. He was one of five people – two men and three women – arrested at the same time in the Laois-Offaly region. They were all released without charge and none of them has been rearrested in the intervening 28 years. Despite the investigation into Ms Pender's disappearance having continued since 1996, and now being upgraded to a murder inquiry, no further arrests have ever been made. In his interview, Mr Thompson insisted gardaí had moved too slowly to begin their search when Ms Pender, who he was living with at the time, went missing. He said he did not want to be seen 'to be giving the guards the fingers... but the fact remains that she is still missing'. [ Fiona Pender murder: Can fresh searches unlock a case 29 years later? Opens in new window ] He pointed out that the slurry tank on his family farm had not been searched and that other locations had also not been checked. 'They [gardaí] will tell you that they searched high and low, but they did two searches on this farm and there is a well outside the door, and it was never searched. At the end of the day, Fiona is out there somewhere and it is their job to find her. I just want to highlight the fact that she is still missing.' He added that when he was arrested in April 1997, gardaí had no evidence to suggest he was involved in Ms Pender's disappearance, and he took a 'dim view' of the arrests made. Mr Thompson said at the time he was 'hopeful' that Ms Pender and their child, who would have been 10 months old in August 1997, were still alive. He found it hard to believe Ms Pender could disappear from a busy town like Tullamore and for the matter to remain unexplained. 'I feel that someone might have seen something, but is afraid,' he said. The Thompson family are farmers from a Church of Ireland background and Ms Pender's family are Catholics who lived on the Connolly Park local authority estate in Tullamore. Much was made of the different backgrounds they were from and that the Thompson family did not approve of the relationship. But Mr Thompson told The Irish Times that theory was 'not even worthy of comment... But I deny it.' He added: 'We are not bigots and nor are the Pender family.'
CBC
5 days ago
- CBC
Major crimes unit investigating after man's body found on Thunder Bay, Ont.'s south side
The Thunder Bay Police Service (TBPS) has confirmed a man's body was found on the city's south side on Friday. In a news release issued Monday afternoon, police said officers were dispatched to the area of Syndicate Avenue South and New Vickers Street around 5:30 p.m. on Friday, and located a deceased man. The man's identity has not been disclosed by police. "The major crimes unit is involved in the investigation. There is no current threat to public safety," the TBPS said in its news release. On Sunday, CBC News observed a nearby area at the end of 106th Street on Mission Island Marsh blocked off by police tape, with an officer holding the scene. The TBPS has not confirmed whether the incident is connected to any active missing person investigations. However, anyone with information is asked to contact police at 807-684-1200. They can also submit tips anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at
LBCI
6 days ago
- Politics
- LBCI
Syria to help locate missing Americans: US envoy
Syria's new authorities have agreed to help the United States locate and return Americans who went missing in the war-torn country, a U.S. envoy said on Sunday. "The new Syrian government has agreed to assist the USA in locating and returning USA citizens or their remains. The families of Austin Tice, Majd Kamalmaz, and Kayla Mueller must have closure," U.S. special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack wrote on X. AFP
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Syria to help locate missing Americans: US envoy
Syria's new authorities have agreed to help the United States locate and return Americans who went missing in the war-ravaged country, a US envoy said on Sunday, in another sign of thawing bilateral ties. The announcement came a day after the United States formally lifted sanctions on Syria, ending more than a decade of diplomatic freeze. Relations have steadily improved since former president Bashar al-Assad was overthrown in an Islamist-led offensive in December. "The new Syrian government has agreed to assist the USA in locating and returning USA citizens or their remains," US special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack wrote on X, describing it as a "powerful step forward". "The families of Austin Tice, Majd Kamalmaz, and Kayla Mueller must have closure," he added, referring to American citizens who had gone missing or been killed during Syria's devastating civil war that erupted in 2011. Tice was working as a freelance journalist for Agence France-Presse, The Washington Post, and other outlets when he was detained at a checkpoint in August 2012. Kamalmaz, a Syrian-American psychotherapist, was believed to have died after being detained under the Assad government in 2017. Mueller was an aid worker kidnapped by the Islamic State group, which announced her death in February 2015, saying she was killed in a Jordanian air strike, a claim disputed by US authorities. "President (Donald) Trump has made it clear that bringing home USA citizens or honoring, with dignity, their remains is a major priority everywhere," said Barrack, who also serves as the US ambassador to Turkey. "The new Syrian Government will aid us in this commitment," he added. - Americans killed by IS - A Syrian source aware of the talks between the two countries told AFP there were 11 other names on Washington's list, all of them Syrian-Americans. The source added that a Qatari delegation began this month, at Washington's request, a search mission for the remains of American hostages killed by IS. Britain-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights meanwhile said that "the Qatari delegation is still searching in Aleppo province for the bodies of American citizens executed by IS". Two US journalists, James Foley and Stephen Sotloff, were videotaped in 2014 being beheaded by a militant who spoke on camera with a British accent. El Shafee Elsheikh, a jihadist from London, was found guilty in 2022 of hostage-taking and conspiracy to murder US citizens -- Foley and Sotloff, as well as aid workers Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller. The formal lifting of US sanctions also coincided with Syria's new authorities reshuffling their interior ministry to include fighting cross-border drug and people smuggling, as they seek to improve ties with the West. The lifting of sanctions paves the way for reconstruction efforts in the war-torn country, where authorities are relying on foreign assistance to help foot the massive cost of rebuilding. Syria's foreign ministry on Saturday welcomed the US lifting of sanctions, calling the move "a positive step in the right direction to reduce humanitarian and economic struggles in the country". The sanctions relief extends to the new government on condition that Syria does not provide safe haven for terrorist organisations and ensure security for religious and ethnic minorities, the US Treasury Department said. Trump shook hands with Syria's jihadist-turned-interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa earlier this month during a visit to Saudi Arabia. lar/jsa/dv
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Daily Mail
Dark history of town where Pheobe Bishop lived as details emerge about hauntingly similar case of young girl, 15, who vanished decades ago
An eerily similar case to that of missing Pheobe Bishop has emerged with a 15-year-old girl disappearing from the same Queensland town years earlier. Rebecca Richardson was last seen at the Gin Gin Santa Fair, Bundaberg in 1998. She had been scheduled to catch a flight to England the next day to be with family. Pheobe, 17, was last seen leaving a home in Gin Gin, where she had been living with couple Tanika Bromley and James Wood, on May 15. It's believed the couple drove Pheobe 40 minutes to Bundaberg Airport where she was due to board an 8.30am flight to Brisbane and then onto Perth where she planned to meet up with her boyfriend. The pair have been questioned by police and were released. No charges have been laid over Pheobe's disappearance and Daily Mail Australia does not suggest Mr Wood and Ms Bromley were involved. Rebecca's body has never been found and no one has been charged with her murder. Nine years ago, 18 years after Rebecca's disappearance, her friend Bec Marks spoke out about her death. Before Rebecca was last seen alive, the 15-year-old's father had recently died and she and her younger sister were in the care of friends, including a man who would later be imprisoned for his role in her death. The 15-year-old's disappearance was reported to the police when she failed to show up to a party attending the Gin Gin Santa Fair. 'When she went missing, me and a group of friends went to the police to say she was missing, it wasn't like her,' Bec told The Courier Mail. 'She was meant to come to a party after the Santa Fair and never showed up. And she never claimed her ticket (to London). 'At the time she went missing she was staying with friends and she was going there to get the key to her father's house to go and get a few belongings from her house ... she never made it.' Although no one was ever charged with Rebecca's murder, Jodie Martin Stephen Van Der Vegt pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact in 2002. He was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment. During court proceedings, Van Der Vegt admitted to helping dispose of the 15-year-old's body. His wife initially protected him but later told police her husband had told her he had witnessed Rebecca's murder and helped bury her body at a local dump. Van Der Vegt was found to have given false information to Rebecca's friends. He also lied to police for more than two-and-a-half years, including suggesting the 15-year-old was still alive. Meanwhile, an update from police on Friday said they would continue to search the wider Gin Gin and Bundaberg areas for Pheobe and 'no one is in custody in relation to this investigation'. Detectives have yet to ascertain why Pheobe was living with Ms Bromley and Mr Wood, but in her final social media posts before she disappeared it suggested the troubled teen had fallen out with her mother and would not return home. Pheobe's family released a statement on Saturday in which they described her as strong-willed and someone who followed her own beat and loved music. 'I've always called her my "wild gypsy banshee",' the statement said. 'You can't tame Phee's spirit, empathy or fight for life. She is sassy, feisty and loves harder than anyone I've ever (met).
