Gardaí ready to begin search for remains of Fiona Pender

Gardaí are to begin planning the logistics of a renewed search for the remains of the missing Co Offaly woman Fiona Pender.

The Irish Times understands that new information which emerged after gardaí went to interview a new witness abroad is being taken seriously and the process of "taking it to the next level" is now under way.

Senior officers in the midlands, where the 25-year-old was last seen alive in August 1996, are set to meet colleagues from specialist units to establish a programme for searching and excavating some areas.

The initial meetings, which could take place as early as this week, will seek to identify priority areas and also the logistics of how the fresh search will be organised.

A new witness, who claims to have significant information, emerged during the investigation of a recent crime in another jurisdiction unrelated to Ms Pender’s disappearance and presumed murder.

The witness has made allegations to a police force abroad that a man known to her abroad subjected her to an assault in that country.

The man has since been charged with an offence. Separately, he is a suspect for Ms Pender’s presumed murder. When the new witness made her allegations of assault to the police, she said information she had gleaned from the suspect over a period of time suggested to her he was involved in killing Ms Pender.

The foreign police force contacted the Garda, who sent a team to the other jurisdiction to interview the woman. She explained to the visiting gardaí why she believed the man was involved in Ms Pender's murder. She also suggested a specific location in the midlands in Ireland that she felt was significant in the case, perhaps because the remains were buried there.

Gardaí are satisfied that the man against whom she has made the allegations was in Ireland at the time of Ms Pender’s disappearance and living in the midlands.

Tullamore disappearance

Ms Pender, a part-time model and hairdresser, was last seen at Church Street, Tullamore, Co Offaly, on the morning of August 23rd, 1996.

She was seven months’ pregnant at the time and had bought clothes for her baby. She had shown no signs of planning to leave the area.

Gardaí believe she was killed by somebody known to her and her remains hidden in order to conceal the crime.

There have been five arrests in the case, but no evidence has emerged on which to grounds criminal charges.