Cold case detectives want to question two men who shared a taxi with a woman on the night a young mother was murdered and dumped in the Dublin mountains.
Antoinette “Angie” Smith (27), had been with friends after going to see David Bowie at Slane Castle on July 11th, 1987, when she was last seen alive.
The mother of two young children, Lisa and Rachel, then aged seven and four, left the La Mirage nightclub in Parnell Street in the capital at around 2.15am on the night she vanished.
It was nearly a year later when her body was found, on April 3rd, 1988, dumped in a drain by a turf-cutters’ road on Glendoo Mountain, near the Lemass monument outside Enniskerry.
A taxi driver who has contacted investigators is convinced he picked up ms Smith on Westmoreland Street in the city centre at about 3.30am before she disappeared.
He told detectives she was with two men - then aged in their early 20s - and they were dropped off near the Yellow House pub in Rathfarnham, at the foot of the Dublin Mountains.
The driver said the passengers had been in Abrakebabra on Westmoreland Street and were talking about going to a house party in Rathfarnham.
Investigating gardai, who are re-examining the murder, said they are not certain it was Ms Smtih and are asking those who were in the taxi to come forward.
One of the men, who would now be in their 40s, was tall with dark hair and spoke with a soft Dublin accent. The other had collar length hair and was also from Dublin.
Antoinette, from Kilmahuddrick Court, Clondalkin, west Dublin, was wearing a David Bowie T-shirt, dark blue denim jeans, a denim jacket and navy blue high heels at the time of her murder.
Her daughter Rachel (30), who this week visited the scene where her mother’s body was discovered, said the killer had torn the family apart.
“The location where she was found and the manner she was found in, you wouldn’t treat an animal that way,” she said. “How someone can have that regard for a human being is just beyond words.”
Detective superintendent Pat Lordan has urged the public to recall that time - the Ulster final was on the same weekend - and if they noticed anything suspicious about family members.
The killer would likely have had scratches or marks and may have been acting strangely for a time later. “I have no doubt from talking to Rachel and Lisa, that their mam would have put up a good fight,” he said. “She would have tried to defend herself.”
As part of the cold case review, detectives also want to speak to two young men who were seen coming down from the Dublin Mountains the morning Ms Smith was murdered.
A man on his early morning walk on Cruagh Woods at 5.50am on July 12th reported seeing two young men, dressed casually, walking in the area.
Gardai want the men to come forward and rule themselves out of their inquiries. They are also appealing for information about a Texaco holdall bag, which was black with red straps, which Antoinette had with her and which was never recovered.
The bag contained some personal effects, including clothes and make-up.
The dead woman’s daughter Lisa (34), who remembers the traumatic ordeal of coping wither her mother’s murder, said her family are still seeking justice and closure. “Someone, somewhere knows something,” she said.
Anyone with information can give it confidentially and anonymously on the Crimestoppers telephone line on 1800 25 00 25.