Housewife Audrey Fitzpatrick, 39, from Dublin’s northside, said she was starting to fear the worst after not hearing from the 15-year-old since she rang to wish her Happy New Year. Amy Fitzpatrick, 15, disappeared after leaving their house to walk back to her nearby Costa del Sol home around 10pm on January 1. Civil Guard officers spent yesterday searching waste ground in the tourist resort of Riviera del Sol near Fuengirola close to the route she would have taken.
She said: “All I want is for Amy to pick up a phone and ring me or a friend and say she’s okay but at the back of my mind is that horrible fear that something’s happened to her and she can’t.
“The longer this goes on, the worst this gets. I’ve racked my brains for a reason as to why Amy might want to go off on her own and I can’t think of one.
“She’s never done anything like this before. We’ve traced the route we think she would have taken but found no clues as to what might have happened. It’s a route she knows well and involves a walk of about two minutes down a dirt track. I’m beside myself with worry.”
Audrey said: “She was like a typical ex-pat youngster over here, hated Spain one minute and loved it the next. But she was settling in reasonably well and getting to grips with the Spanish.
“The police have been brilliant and are doing all they can to help us find Amy so we’ve no complaints there.
“But we’ve reached a bit of a dead end,” she added.
Amy’s disappearance follows reports of a suspected paedophile targeting local children.
Several locals say a man in a white van has been spotted trying to pick up children and take them away.
Audrey was last night preparing to distribute hundreds of appeal posters showing her daughter’s face around the area with Amy’s step-father, Dave McMahon.
Amy’s older brother Dean, 17, spent the day taking police to see friends and find out if they had been in contact.
A police helicopter spent yesterday morning flying over waste ground behind Amy’s home.
The green-belt land, sandwiched between a motorway running along the Costa del Sol and houses leading down to the Mediterranean, is popular with local dog walkers.
Amy, who has dark, shoulder-length hair, was wearing a black jacket, dark tracksuit bottoms, a black Diesel T-shirt and black furry boots, when she was last seen.
Police have spoken to the Spanish man and his English ex-pat wife she was babysitting for before she went missing.
Amy’s step-father, who also comes from Dublin and works as an estate agent on the Costa del Sol, was last night too upset to speak.
Amy moved with her family to the Costa del Sol from her native Dublin three-and-a-half years ago.
Family pal, Ritchie Harris, from London, said: “Her family are beside themselves with worry. It was only a 10-minute walk home from the house where she was babysitting. She left about 10pm on New Year’s Day and hasn’t been seen or heard from since.
“Obviously we’re trying not to, but at the back of your mind in situations like this you always fear the worst. Amy is a very pretty girl and although she’s mature for her age and likes to mix with an older crowd, she’s only 15 and still very much of a youngster.”
Mr Harris said: “I’ve spent the night looking through Amy’s emails and speaking to her friends on MSN Messenger for any clues as to what might have happened to her.”
0 comments:
Post a Comment