Hope in short supply for family burdened by tragedy

Tragedy is nothing new in the Fitzpatrick family, even as they absorb the news of the verdict handed down in the David Mahon case over the death of teenager Dean Fitzpatrick.

Almost a decade ago, the family came to national prominence with the sudden and unexplained disappearance of Dean’s sister, Amy.

On New Year’s Day, 2008, the 15-year-old left her friend, Ashley Rose, with whom she had been babysitting Ashley’s brother at her home in Mijas Costa, Malaga, on the Costa Del Sol. Amy was due back at her own house in the Riviera del Sol development in Mijas Costa not long afterwards. She never made it there.