Gardaí believe second person involved in disposing of body

GARDAÍ believe a second person was directly involved in disposing of Fiona Sinnott’s body.

Detectives said the chief suspect did not have a car himself or any other means of getting rid of the body.

Officers are convinced a close friend or relative provided a car or a van.

This person assisted in putting the body into the vehicle and driving to a location where he helped bury the body.

The chief suspect was arrested yesterday morning and continued to be questioned until 8pm last night, when the detention period ran out.

Gardaí are expected to recommended that charges be brought against him.

Five other people, friends and family members of the suspect, were also arrested.

The chief suspect is understood to have seriously assaulted Ms Sinnott years ago, after which she disappeared for a period to allow the injuries to heal.

When Ms Sinnott, whose daughter Emma is now aged eight, disappeared overnight on February 8, 1998, family members thought she had left for a short period. It was not until 10 days later that she was reported missing.

Her sister Diane yesterday said they were now more hopeful of progress. “We hope this is the breakthrough we’ve been looking for since Fiona’s disappearance,” she said.

The 28-year-old said they were “a lot more confident” of finding Fiona’s body.

“That’s all we ever wanted, to be able to bury her with Daddy. We too believe the gardaí have now spoken to the one person who knows a lot more about this than they have been saying all along.”

The breakthrough in the Sinnott investigation is part of a garda initiative to re-examine the ‘cold cases’ of six women who disappeared without trace in the 1990s.

The mother of Fiona Pender, 25, who vanished from Tullamore, Co Offaly, in August 1996, said the breakthrough in the Sinnott investigation could have a ripple effect. “I’ve often said that if one of the cases was solved, or if they got somebody for one, it could start the ball rolling,” said Josephine Pender.