Abduction accused lived in Ireland

A WOMAN currently in custody in Canada on charges of abducting her daughter in 1993, lived and worked in Cork for four years while allegedly on the run.

Patricia O’Byrne, aged 54, is accused of abducting the 20-month-old toddler in 1993 shortly after she and the child’s father, Joe Chisholm, were awarded joint custody. After her disappearance, it was suspected she might be in Britain or Spain. It has now emerged she was definitely in Ireland for part of time for which she was unaccounted.

For the last 18 years, O’Byrne and her daughter have gone by the names Pamela and Thea Whelan.

Authorities in Canada have been told the child was enrolled for a time in St Mary’s National School in Waterpark, Carrigaline, Co Cork. Under the name Pamela Whelan, O’Byrne worked for four years in the role of deputy editor at Thomas Crosbie Media, a company within the Thomas Crosbie Holdings group, which owns this newspaper.

She left that role in 2004.

Authorities believe that in the following years she used her assumed identity to form a life for herself and her daughter in Victoria, Canada. Her daughter, now 20, was enrolled at Victoria High School from which she graduated in 2009.

The Vancouver Sun quotes investigating officer Detective Sergeant Dean Burks as saying O’Byrne’s daughter was not entirely surprised at the allegation her mother had abducted her as a toddler.

Police in Toronto said that Patricia O’Byrne, along with friends and family members who potentially helped her to evade capture for 18 years, could face additional charges. O’Byrne was arrested last Thursday and appeared in court in Vancouver.