Mother is convinced missing Amy is still alive

THE mother of missing schoolgirl Amy Fitzpatrick is convinced her daughter is still alive and believes she is living with an older man who has brainwashed her.

Amy’s mother Audrey revealed this week that she will spend New Year’s Eve — the third anniversary of her daughter’s disappearance — retracing the last known steps of the 15-year-old schoolgirl.

The Dublin born teenager vanished on New Year’s Day 2008 as she walked home from a friend’s house in Spain’s Costa Del Sol.

A heartbroken Audrey urged her daughter to pick up the phone just to let her know she is safe.

“I’m certain she’s still alive and won’t stop looking for her until she is found.

“On New Year’s Eve I will walk back over the route she took when she disappeared, and go over every single step. That same night I’ll also be putting up posters of her and lighting candles.

“She’s somewhere, but I don’t know where. But I believe she was smitten after meeting someone and thought the grass would be greener to go off with him. It’s probably an older man, who brainwashed her into going to live with him. That’s the only thing I can think that happened.”

Audrey and partner David Mahon have also revealed they are taking steps to ease their constant heartache by moving from the Malaga home where Amy, now 18, lived with them up to the day she was last seen.

Audrey said: “We’re in the middle of moving at the moment. We’re staying in the area, but we decided to move because there are too many painful memories here.”

Despite receiving no positive leads on Amy’s disappearance, Audrey has vowed to step up her campaign next year to locate her.

“I’ll never give up and I have received tremendous support from the Spanish authorities who have been very good. Unlike the McCanns, the case is still open and I receive a call from the police whenever they come up with anything.

“We’ve been all over Europe raising awareness about her disappearance and we’ll continue doing it until she’s found. And I’m still on the computer every day answering emails about her.

“I don’t know how we’re going to progress the campaign next, but we’ll come up with something.

“More than anything else in the world, I want Amy to pick up the phone just to let me know she’s OK. I can’t understand why she wouldn’t want to do that. There was no reason for her to be angry with me. As I’ve said before, we hadn’t been arguing before her disappearance.”

Devout Catholic Audrey also told how she draws inner strength from her unwavering faith.

“I talk to God a lot and don’t know where I’d be now without my religion.

“Hopefully 2011 will be the year that my prayers are answered and God guides her back to us.”