THE MOTHER of missing Irish teenager Amy Fitzpatrick has not given up hope that her daughter will turn up safe and has urged the international media and the Spanish authorities not to drop the case.
Coinciding with reports from Portugal yesterday that police were preparing to close the file on missing five-year-old Madeleine McCann, Audrey Fitzpatrick gave an interview to Spain’s EFE news agency in which she expressed her hopes that 16-year-old Amy, who has not been seen for exactly six months, will still be found.
Amy disappeared after leaving a friend’s house at about 10pm on January 1st to walk to her home in Riviera del Sol, Mijas.
“At the beginning we thought and hoped, as did the police, that Amy had run away because she was unhappy, but there is now no possibility of that,” Mrs Fitzpatrick said.
She said she believed her daughter might be with “an older man” and probably left the country by car, despite not having her passport. But she is still convinced that, even though Amy may originally have “made plans” with the man, she is now being held against her will.
“Amy would find it hard to be away from the people she loves, her friends and family, and live in a completely different place, unless someone is telling her what to do.”
She asked for posters with Amy’s picture not to be taken down in case she might be recognised by people living in Spain or on holidays there. Local reports in Mijas had stated that many posters were being removed because of concerns expressed by the tourist industry.
Police sources on the Costa del Sol have confirmed that no new leads have been uncovered in the search for the Dublin teenager, despite renewed calls for information.