The mum of a teenager who has been missing for 15 years has spoken out after she was told of explosive claims her daughter was allegedly being paid to go on “drug runs” with two British men.
Amy Fitzpatrick from Ireland went missing in Spain on New Year’s Day 2008.
In an interview with the Irish Mirror, Amy’s mother Audrey said she’s been told for the first time about the claims.
Audrey said: “I was told that they went on drug runs. Amy got a hundred euro to sit in the car with them like an innocent.
“I never knew that before. This is all news that I’m only after getting in the last week."
Audrey said that she previously heard of the two British men identified to her – one of whom was once interviewed in a UK prison in relation to her daughter’s 2008 disappearance from the Mijas Costa area of Spain.
But the stunning revelation that Amy was allegedly being paid by them to sit in the front of their car while they went on “drug runs” is new to her and could hold the key to unlocking the mystery of how she vanished.
Audrey said: “These were bad men.
“I didn’t realise she was doing stuff like that and I don’t mind saying it. It’s 15 years later now so what have I got to lose?
“It might lead to the answer and somebody else could know and want to come forward now and talk about it.
“I didn’t know anything about this. I was told she would sit in the front of the car like somebody’s daughter.
“These men were in their 40s or 50s and she sat there and got paid for just being there in the car.”
The supposed scheme worked by the men posing as though they were on a family outing in the car – thereby being able to get through any potential police checkpoint easier.
It is understood this information was passed to La Guardia Civil, who are still investigating Amy’s disappearance.
Audrey said that she remembers her daughter often going off for periods of time but she believed it was to go to the shops or to hang out with pals.
“I always thought they were going out shopping or they were doing something with friends.
“It was only a couple of hours a day. I just thought she was out with her friends.
“I’m shocked by this but I’m also relieved to be hearing new information after 15 years with no developments.”
Audrey was also stunned after a pal of Amy’s recently revealed details of his last ever conversation with Amy the night before she disappeared.
Alan Quieros, who said he regarded Amy like a “little sister”, recently told the Irish Mirror about a conversation on social media site MSN in which Amy mysteriously said she had a “scheme” after her mother cancelled her flights home to Ireland.
Amy told Alan: “I love you, Happy New Year, and don’t worry about me, I’ve got a scheme’.”
Audrey said she was stunned to learn this information and that she cannot begin to imagine what her daughter was referring to.
“He spoke to her 15 years ago. 15 years and it’s something new. This is the first time we’ve heard of this.
“It’s stumped us. God knows what was in her head because she’s a hot head like me. It’s really important information.
“Believe you me, she was clever.”
Audrey confirmed that she did cancel Amy’s planned trip back to Ireland, which she said was happening to mark her upcoming 16th birthday.
She said she did so because her son Dean, who was killed in 2013, had gotten into “trouble” – something she kept quiet about at the time Amy vanished.
“She said her passport was destroyed, which was a lie because she was on my passport since she was a baby. She said that I destroyed it. No such thing. You can’t believe a word out of a teenager’s mouth,” Audrey said.
“She was on my passport. I had her booked for going home and then Dean ran into trouble.
“So that’s why I cancelled the holiday. That’s why she was so upset.” Audrey said she had kept that fact secret at the time because she didn’t want any attention on her son.
“I had to cancel that because of Dean. I didn’t want anyone knowing he was in trouble.”
Audrey’s husband Dave Mahon served five years in prison for the manslaughter of his stepson Dean, who he said walked into a knife he had taken off him during a verbal row at his home in Dublin in May 2013.
Audrey said she now hopes the new nuggets of information may lead to the answer as to what happened to her daughter.
And in a message to the two men who it is claimed Amy was going on drug runs with, she said: “I’d offer a reward if they came forward.
“I’d give every last penny I had.”
