The aunt of missing Amy Fitzpatrick has said all the family wants is closure on the 15th anniversary of the Irish teen’s disappearance.
Christine Kenny has said they will never be “right” until the truth comes out about what happened, while her dad Christopher urged anybody with information to come forward. Amy vanished from Mijas, on the Costa del Sol in Spain, on New Year’s Day 2008.
She was last seen when she left her pal Ashley Rose’s home at 10pm where she was helping babysit Ashley’s brother in Riviera del Sol, near Mijas. From there she was to return to her own villa – a 10-minute walk away.
Read more: Amy Fitzpatrick pal says he is 'tempted to dig up stable' in Spain over alleged burial site claims
At the time Amy was living with her mum Audrey, her stepdad Dave Mahon and her brother Dean. Tragic Dean, 23, was stabbed to death by his stepfather Mahon on May 25, 2013.
Christine said this time of year is particularly difficult for her family and said Amy’s biological father Christopher is “broken”. Speaking to the Irish Mirror, Christine said: “We’ll never be right until we get to the truth. It’s a very very difficult time of year.
“I’m finding it very hard to deal with the fact that she has not been found. Her father, God help him, is up the walls.
“He said ‘if I just knew where she was’ and ‘if I just get her home and if she has passed to give her a proper Christian burial’. He’s broken, his two children are gone.”
Amy’s dad Christopher said: “I need to find my child. We know there are people out there who have the information and we want them to come forward. I want the Irish and Spanish Governments to open a cold case review into my daughter’s disappearance.”
Christine also urged anybody with information about her niece’s disappearance to come forward. She said: “There are a lot of people out there who know the truth but unfortunately they don’t have the decency to stand up and tell the truth.
“We just want somebody to come forward with the information and not be afraid. If it was their child wouldn’t they like to know where their child is? It’s 15 years way too long.
“Somebody knows something and there are a lot of people who know something but unfortunately they don’t seem to have the guts to come and tell the truth. They could do it confidentially.
“I feel now it’s time the truth comes out and Amy is found regardless of whether she has passed or not. It is hell, it’s the not knowing.”
Christine said the Irish and Spanish Governments have done “nothing”. She feels there are a number of people who should be reinterviewed about what happened to Amy.
Christine, who has started a petition for a cold case review, added: “It’s heartbreaking, we’ve had our own tragedies besides Dean and Amy and at the end of the day all we want is closure and I think it’s about time our government got up and asked questions.
“She’s 15 years missing now, surely to god it’s time enough that something was actually done and I still feel there are people who need to be reinterviewed and investigated properly. Because Amy was an Irish citizen, she was a 15-year-old girl who went missing, the Irish should be involved.
“Our Government needs to do a whole lot more... it’s about finding a child. Our Government did nothing. I feel there weren’t enough things done from our Government and it wasn’t from lack of trying. I’ve done the best that I can do.
“I tried to get in touch with the Minister of Justice to speak with her but she didn’t meet with me this year.” In the petition, they said they want an “automatic right for a cold case review for a family of a missing person abroad at intervals of one year, five years and 10 years for all of the EU and the family to receive a briefing from the police.”
Christine also said Amy adored her dad Christopher and that she was desperate to move back to Ireland. She added: “She idolised Christopher, he would have done anything for both of his children. He’s a broken man. All she wanted was to be with her dad.
“She was a lovely kid, she was just a perfect child. She just wanted to go back to her father.”
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