Fiona Pender was her boyfriend, John Thompson. He said goodbye to her at about
six o’clock on the morning of Friday 23 August 1996. Fiona, who was suffering from a bout of heartburn, was still in bed as he left their ground-floor flat in Church Street, Tullamore. He had
a busy day’s work ahead at his family’s farm at Grange, Co. Laois, about eight miles away.
The next evening John Thompson received a phone call at the farm in Grange. It was Fiona’s mother, Josephine. ‘Where’s Fiona?’ she asked. ‘I’ve been around to
the flat. She’s not there.’ ‘I thought she was with you,’ he replied. ‘I’ll be in to you shortly.’ Later that night John Thompson and Fiona’s mother
and father and her thirteen-year-old brother walked into Tullamore Garda Station. Fiona had not been seen for more than thirty-six hours. It is most probable that she was already dead.
The last time Josephine Pender saw her only daughter was at seven o’clock on the evening of Thursday 22 August 1996. The two had spent much of the day together, making two trips to the
Bridge Shopping Centre in Tullamore. Fiona was in good form. Her baby was due in just over two months’ time. John was working long hours at his father’s farm. Fiona was on the look-out
for a new home for themselves and the new baby. The flat in Church Street was too small, a bed-sitter with a kitchen in one part of the large room. Fiona had decided that once the baby was born she
was going to take it home to her mother’s house, where they could both rest for a few weeks, hoping that within a short time she and John and the baby would have a nice place of their
own.
On that last day that Josephine and Fiona would spend together they met at Dunne’s Stores at the Bridge Centre, a few minutes’ walk from Church Street. They did a bit of shopping and
then decided to head back to the Pender family home at Connolly Park, about ten minutes’ walk away. It was raining, so they got a taxi. Fiona’s father was in the house, getting himself
ready for a fishing trip. Tired after the walk around the shops, Fiona sat down and cradled her tummy. She picked up a copy of
Hello
and began flicking through it. She found a photograph
of the singer Eric Clapton on a fishing trip catching a salmon; she showed it to her father, getting his own fishing gear together, and they laughed. The expectant mother was just hours away from
being abducted and murdered.
Fiona Pender was the eldest of the three children of Seán and Josephine Pender. The second was Mark, two years younger than his sister; John is the youngest. He was
thirteen when his only sister vanished and sixteen when his father took his own life. But the first tragedy to hit the Pender family occurred when John was only twelve, when his older brother was
killed in a motorcycle accident.
Mark Pender loved motorcycles. The one he was riding that day in June 1995 was a limited-edition Fireblade. It was a sunny day, and he and a friend had just stopped for ice cream and petrol in
Killeigh, south of Tullamore. After finishing their ice cream they got back on the bike and headed for Tullamore. A few moments later the bike hit a grass verge and swerved into the path of an
oncoming lorry. The passenger escaped with minor injuries, but Mark Pender died. He was twenty-one years old and the proud father of three-year-old Dean. Mark and Dean’s mother, Gillian, were
due to be married the following May. A week after Mark’s death an insurance agent—unaware of Mark’s death—called to say that the couple had been given approval for a
mortgage.
Fiona Pender took the death of her younger brother very badly. With only two years between them, Fiona and Mark were close. Fiona shared his interest in motorbikes; she even bought her own, but
she got rid of it after Mark’s death. It was through her interest in motorbikes that she had met John Thompson, a farmer from Grange in north Co. Laois. It was Mark who
six o’clock on the morning of Friday 23 August 1996. Fiona, who was suffering from a bout of heartburn, was still in bed as he left their ground-floor flat in Church Street, Tullamore. He had
a busy day’s work ahead at his family’s farm at Grange, Co. Laois, about eight miles away.
The next evening John Thompson received a phone call at the farm in Grange. It was Fiona’s mother, Josephine. ‘Where’s Fiona?’ she asked. ‘I’ve been around to
the flat. She’s not there.’ ‘I thought she was with you,’ he replied. ‘I’ll be in to you shortly.’ Later that night John Thompson and Fiona’s mother
and father and her thirteen-year-old brother walked into Tullamore Garda Station. Fiona had not been seen for more than thirty-six hours. It is most probable that she was already dead.
The last time Josephine Pender saw her only daughter was at seven o’clock on the evening of Thursday 22 August 1996. The two had spent much of the day together, making two trips to the
Bridge Shopping Centre in Tullamore. Fiona was in good form. Her baby was due in just over two months’ time. John was working long hours at his father’s farm. Fiona was on the look-out
for a new home for themselves and the new baby. The flat in Church Street was too small, a bed-sitter with a kitchen in one part of the large room. Fiona had decided that once the baby was born she
was going to take it home to her mother’s house, where they could both rest for a few weeks, hoping that within a short time she and John and the baby would have a nice place of their
own.
On that last day that Josephine and Fiona would spend together they met at Dunne’s Stores at the Bridge Centre, a few minutes’ walk from Church Street. They did a bit of shopping and
then decided to head back to the Pender family home at Connolly Park, about ten minutes’ walk away. It was raining, so they got a taxi. Fiona’s father was in the house, getting himself
ready for a fishing trip. Tired after the walk around the shops, Fiona sat down and cradled her tummy. She picked up a copy of
Hello
and began flicking through it. She found a photograph
of the singer Eric Clapton on a fishing trip catching a salmon; she showed it to her father, getting his own fishing gear together, and they laughed. The expectant mother was just hours away from
being abducted and murdered.
Fiona Pender was the eldest of the three children of Seán and Josephine Pender. The second was Mark, two years younger than his sister; John is the youngest. He was
thirteen when his only sister vanished and sixteen when his father took his own life. But the first tragedy to hit the Pender family occurred when John was only twelve, when his older brother was
killed in a motorcycle accident.
Mark Pender loved motorcycles. The one he was riding that day in June 1995 was a limited-edition Fireblade. It was a sunny day, and he and a friend had just stopped for ice cream and petrol in
Killeigh, south of Tullamore. After finishing their ice cream they got back on the bike and headed for Tullamore. A few moments later the bike hit a grass verge and swerved into the path of an
oncoming lorry. The passenger escaped with minor injuries, but Mark Pender died. He was twenty-one years old and the proud father of three-year-old Dean. Mark and Dean’s mother, Gillian, were
due to be married the following May. A week after Mark’s death an insurance agent—unaware of Mark’s death—called to say that the couple had been given approval for a
mortgage.
Fiona Pender took the death of her younger brother very badly. With only two years between them, Fiona and Mark were close. Fiona shared his interest in motorbikes; she even bought her own, but
she got rid of it after Mark’s death. It was through her interest in motorbikes that she had met John Thompson, a farmer from Grange in north Co. Laois. It was Mark who
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