Mother of missing woman speaks candidly of heartbreak 14 years on

THE mother of missing Offaly woman Fiona Pender has spoken candidly about the heartbreak she still feels 14 years after the disappearance of her beloved daughter.

Ms Pender was 25 years old and seven months pregnant when she went missing from the flat she shared with her boyfriend in Tullamore on August 22, 1996.

Speaking to radio host Ryan Tubridy, Josephine Pender recalled the suffering she still feels after losing her daughter. “She was funny, good-natured... she was the life and soul of the family.” Ms Pender recalled that on the last day she had seen her daughter, she went shopping with her son John and Fiona for baby clothes. “She said goodbye to both of us, gave us a kiss, and that was the last time we seen her.

“I knew something bad had happened because we had daily contact and Fiona never let me worry, she always contacted me if she was going to be late — I knew Fiona wouldn’t disappear and not tell me.”

Ms Pender said she contacted the Gardaí immediately when she could not get in touch with her daughter, but it took three days before they launched an investigation.

“I had to convince [the Gardaí] it wasn’t her style. It was horrific... I didn’t know where she was, I was a complete lunatic... I was thinking was she harmed? Was it quick? Did she suffer? Did she go into labour?”

Ms Pender said the pain of losing her son Mark in a tragic motorcycle accident the year prior to Ms Pender’s disappearance had in some way prepared the family for what happened. However, she said the pain of losing a son and then a daughter wore down her husband Sean and he took his own life some years later. “There were sightings of Fiona at the beginning but nearly all proved not to be true. Different things came up over the years — my heart would lift, and then nothing... My husband eventually got very depressed. I understand why he did it — he just couldn’t cope anymore.”

As part of an awareness day, 6,000 leaflets featuring the last picture taken of Fiona were distributed throughout the country last Saturday by volunteers wearing T-shirts sporting Fiona’s picture.

Ms Pender appealed to anyone with any information about her daughter’s whereabouts to contact her. “I just want for people who know something to tell us, I would... appeal to them for the sake of John and myself to help us.”

* Tullamore Gardaí: 057 932760; Garda confidential free phone line: 1800 666111.