Mother pleads with killer to give up

THE mother of missing Offaly woman Fiona Pender pleaded with her daughter’s killer to give himself up.

Josephine Pender made the call as a 30-strong Garda team, backed up by 22 soldiers, began a second search for her daughter’s remains in a wooded area along the Slieve Bloom mountains.

25-year-old Fiona Pender, who was seven months pregnant, went missing from the flat she shared with her boyfriend in Tullamore on August 22, 1996.

Josephine Pender said finding her daughter’s body was more important than finding the killer. But she appealed to those involved in the killing to hand themselves over to gardaí.

“They could have put myself and my son out of our misery before this, not having it going on for 12 years. Anyone who did anything at that time after being caught would have been in and served their sentence and back out by now, so it seems pointless,” she said.

Ms Pender said she and her son John would never give up hope of finding Fiona’s body.

Last May, gardaí excavated a small area of the Monicknew Wood along the Laois-Offaly border after walkers came across a small makeshift wooden cross bearing the name of Fiona Pender. A 10 foot by 10 foot excavation around the cross, which took several days, did not find any remains, but officers were not happy they were able to conduct a thorough examination.

Garda spokesman Supt Kevin Donohoe said the terrain was bad in the area and that the excavation was forensic, with officers down on their “hands and knees” using hand trowels.

He said they hired British soil and search experts, who have been used in several high-profile searches across the world.

“They surveyed quietly a few weeks ago and indicated certain areas to look at,” he said.

Supt Donohoe said the site is around two acres in size and could take considerable time, but said it was not possible to give a definite timeframe.

Supt Donohoe said among the 30 gardaí at the site was a divisional search team, which would conduct the forensic digging with hand trowels. He said the dog unit would be used to try and get any scent of remains. He said the dogs would be run along a series of probes, which go 6-8 feet into the ground and aerate the soil.

Supt Donohoe said the defence forces had brought in equipment to survey the ground without having to excavate it. These detect metal objects, such as pins used in surgery. Fiona Pender had two metal pins in one of her arms.

A defence forces spokesman said soldiers had two types of metal detectors. One can detect objects to a depth of one metre, while the second can be adjusted to search to a greater depth. Supt Donohoe said a forensic archaeologist from the Garda Technical Bureau was also on hand. He said the terrain was difficult and there had been considerable natural disturbance from falling trees and overgrowth. A number of people would be visited by detectives in the coming days as part of the investigation, he said.