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{{Short description|1980s-1990s disappearances of women}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
[[File:Iemissingtriangle.jpg|thumb|A map of [[Ireland]] showing the locations where some of the women went missing from 1993 to 1998.]]
'''Ireland's Vanishing Triangle'''<ref name="abcnews">{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=2059587&page=1|title=Ireland's 'Vanishing Triangle'|author=ABC News|work=ABC News}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.irishcentral.com/news/FBI-identify-Irish-rapist-as-a-serial-killer--98728694.html#axzz2Bp8UE8A5|title=FBI identify Irish rapist as a serial killer|author=PATRICK COOPER|date=19 July 2010|work=IrishCentral.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/parenting/never-forgotten-1566280.html|title=Never forgotten|work=Independent.ie}}</ref> is a term commonly used in the Irish media when referring to a number of high-profile disappearances of Irish women from the late 1980s to the late 1990s. Several other women were also murdered within the triangle and their cases remain unsolved as well.<ref>{{cite news |title=Fresh appeals over three deaths|url=https://www.rte.ie/news/2005/1109/69529-bodies/|publisher=RTE}}</ref> All of the cases appeared to share some common characteristics. The women's ages range from their late-teens to late-30s, they disappeared inexplicably and suddenly, and no substantial clues or evidence of their fate has ever been found despite large
Due to similarities in the cases, a popular hypothesis is that they may be the result of a [[serial killer]] or killers being active in the area during this period.<ref name="abcnews" /> The cases of these missing women feature in the Irish media periodically and the disappearances have been the subject in a number of unsolved crime documentaries.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://missingmadeleine.forumotion.net/t6020-ireland-s-missing-women|title=IRELAND'S MISSING WOMEN|work=missingmadeleine.forumotion.net}}</ref> Gardaí set up an investigation [[task force]] in September 1998 called 'Operation Trace'<ref>{{Cite news |date=17 November 2024|title=Jo Jo Dullard murder probe: how Operation Trace investigated ‘rumours’ that missing woman was buried in shed foundations on land being searched by gardaí|url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/crime/jo-jo-dullard-murder-probe-how-operation-trace-investigated-rumours-that-missing-woman-was-buried-in-shed-foundations-on-land-being-searched-by-gardai/a1184080495.html|newspaper=[[Irish Independent]]|language=en|access-date=18 November 2024 }}</ref> to focus on the unsolved disappearances and [[homicides]], but to date this has failed to turn up any substantial clues as to the fate of the women despite a €10,000 reward offered for information resulting in the recovery of a body.<ref name="abcnews" />
==Victims==
===Missing===
* '''Priscilla Clarke''', 25, disappeared on 3 May 1988, from [[Enniskerry, County Wicklow]] after going horseback riding with her employer, 39-year-old '''Lynda Kavanagh''', for whom she worked as a live-in nanny.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://evoke.ie/2021/08/26/entertainment/sister-of-missing-nanny-priscilla-clarke-is-looking-for-answers-33-years-on-in-new-crime-doc|title=Sister of missing nanny Priscilla Clarke looking for answers 33 years on in new crime doc| work=Evoke}}</ref> Lynda's body was recovered two days later from the [[River Dargle]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.doenetwork.org/cases-int/2331dfirl.html|title=2331DFIRL| work=Doe Network}}</ref> The horses were discovered in the vicinity, damp and lost. Priscilla's body was never discovered. Two people were seen riding horses onto Charleville Estate on the day that Priscilla vanished.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.missing.ie/missing_persons/priscilla-clarke-co-wicklow/|title=Priscilla Clarke (Co. Wicklow)| work=Missing Irish People}}</ref> One was recognised as Kavanagh; the other person was not identified. However, Lynda called her husband to let him know she and Priscilla were going riding. At the time, it was believed that the women encountered difficulties while riding through the swollen river. However, Priscilla's family believe that foul play should have been further considered.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sundayworld.com/news/irish-news/fresh-appeal-for-info-on-priscilla-clarke-who-vanished-while-horse-riding-in-1988/40382277.html|title=Fresh appeal for info on Priscilla Clarke who vanished while horse-riding in 1988| work=Sunday World}}</ref>
* '''[[Annie McCarrick|Annie Bridget McCarrick]]''', 26, of [[Long Island, New York]], disappeared on 26 March 1993. The last confirmed sighting of her was that morning near her home in Dublin, where she was recorded on CCTV; several later reported sightings put her in [[Enniskerry]], County Wicklow.<ref name=rte-murder-inquiry-launched-annie-mccarrick/> She arranged to see friends the next day, but was not at home when they arrived; nor did she come to work on 27 March, and she was reported missing that evening.<ref name=tj-investigation-into-disappearance-annie-mccarrick-upgraded-murder>{{Cite news |title=Investigation into disappearance of Annie McCarrick 30 years ago upgraded to murder inquiry |url=https://www.thejournal.ie/annie-mccarrick-murder-investigation-6027686-Mar2023/ |last=Barry |first=Aoife |date=2023-03-24 |access-date=2023-03-25 |work=[[TheJournal.ie]]}}</ref> On
* '''Eva Brennan''', 39, of [[Rathgar|Rathgar, County Dublin]], went missing on 25 July 1993. She was depressed at the time and she disappeared when she left a family lunch at her parents' house after a small argument in [[Terenure, Dublin]]. Brennan's father went to her apartment because she had not come to the family home for two days. He rang the doorbell. He then went over to the Horse and Hound Pub which the Brennan family owned and asked a barman to come over and they broke a window to get in. The jacket she had worn on the day she was last seen was there, so Brennan must have gone back to her apartment that day.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Holland |first1=Kitty |title=Family of woman missing 20 years issue new appeal |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/family-of-woman-missing-20-years-issue-new-appeal-1.1470508 |publisher=The Irish Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Eva's family still grieve nine years later|url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-10127474.html |last=Ring |first=Evelyn |work=The Irish Examiner}}</ref> There was no initial [[Gardaí]] investigation known to the family for around three months. The Brennan family have criticised the Gardaí on how they dealt with Brennan's disappearance. When last seen Brennan was wearing a pink tracksuit and leggings, a man's wristwatch with a brown strap and carried a red leatherette handbag about 8"x10" with a flap to the front.
* '''Imelda Keenan''', 22, of [[Mountmellick|Mountmellick, County Laois]], was living in [[Waterford City|Waterford City, County Waterford]] when she disappeared on 3 January 1994. She had initially gone to stay with one of her brothers in [[Cobh|Cobh, County Cork]], but left after a short while when she went to stay with two other brothers in Waterford City. She was living with her boyfriend, Mark Wall, and they both lived in an apartment in the town on William Street. Keenan attended the [[Waterford College of Further Education|Central Technical Institute in Waterford]] where she undertook a computer course for a short period. Keenan told Wall that she was going to the post office. Keenan left the apartment at 1:30 p.m. and walked down William Street onto Lombard Street. The last confirmed sighting of Keenan is at this time when she was seen crossing the road by a local doctor's secretary who knew her well. The secretary and a friend observed Keenan crossing the road at the corner of the Tower Hotel and Lombard Street. She was never seen again.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.munster-express.ie/local-news/reward-of-e10000-for-new-information-on-missing-imelda-keenan/|title=Reward of €10,000 for new information on missing Imelda|work=Munster Express Online}}</ref>
* '''[[Disappearance of Jo Jo Dollard|Josephine "
* '''[[Disappearance of Fiona Pender|Fiona Pender]]''', 25, of [[Tullamore|Tullamore, County Offaly]], went missing on 23 August 1996. She was last seen leaving her ground-floor apartment by her boyfriend, John Thompson, in [[Tullamore]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Who is Fiona Pender? The tragic story behind the memorial where Ashling Murphy was killed |url=https://evoke.ie/2022/01/13/news/irish-news/who-is-fiona-pender-fionas-way |publisher=Evoke}}</ref> Pender was seven months pregnant at the time of her disappearance. Fiona left her passport, clothing and credit cards behind. However, there were no signs of a struggle found in the apartment and it is believed that she left of her own accord and got in a vehicle. In 2008, a small wooden cross bearing the name "Fiona Pender" was found on [[Slieve Bloom Way|The Slieve Bloom Way]] at the border between [[Laois]] and [[Offaly]], which led to the belief that Fiona was buried in the [[Slieve Bloom Mountains]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Fiona Pender: A look back through an 18-year mystery |url=https://www.thejournal.ie/fiona-pender-breakthrough-recap-1718028-Oct2014/ |publisher=The Journal}}</ref>
* '''Ciara Breen''', 17, of [[Dundalk|Dundalk, County Louth]], went missing on 13 February 1997, on Bachelor's Walk in [[Dundalk]]. She was last seen by her mother Bernadette, who said at the time that they had both gone to bed just after midnight. That day they had gone to a local café for dinner and then returned home. According to Bernadette, she was due to get the results of a [[biopsy]] the following morning and Ciara was worried about this.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ciara Breen: Mystery tipoff could end 18 years of hell for missing girl's mum |url=https://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/crime/ciara-breen-mystery-tipoff-could-6275652 |publisher=Irish Mirror}}</ref> The two had a short conversation on Bernadette's bed before going to sleep at around midnight. After 2 a.m., Bernadette got up to go to the bathroom and discovered Ciara was missing. She had left a window on the latch and it is believed she did so, so that she could climb back in.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ciara Breen: Irish police begin search for girl missing since 1997 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-33977146 |publisher=BBC News}}</ref> It is considered the most likely scenario in Ciara's case that she decided to leave her home to attend a pre-planned meeting with someone that night but this has never been verified. In 2014, two credible witnesses came forward with sightings of Ciara from the night she disappeared and in 2015, a man was arrested, but released without charge.<ref>{{cite news |title=Chief suspect in murder of missing teenager Ciara Breen dies in Garda custody |url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/chief-suspect-in-murder-of-missing-teenager-ciara-breen-dies-in-garda-custody-35907639.html |publisher=Independent}}</ref> The male suspect was arrested again in 2017 for an unrelated drink-driving charge and died of a [[drug overdose]]
* '''Fiona Sinnott''', 19, of [[Rosslare Strand|Rosslare, County Wexford]], was living in [[Broadway, County Wexford]] when she went missing on 8 February 1998. Fiona was last seen leaving Butler's Pub in Broadway. She left the establishment with her ex-boyfriend and father to her eleven-month-old daughter, Sean Carroll. Carroll told investigators that he had walked Sinnott back to her house in [[List of townlands of County Wexford|Ballyhitt, Wexford]] and that he had spent the night sleeping on her couch.<ref>{{cite news |title=Fiona Sinnott's family: 'We know who murdered Fiona' |url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/commentanalysis/arid-30853823.html |publisher=The Irish Examiner}}</ref> Sinnott had gone directly to bed after complaining of pains in her arm and upper body, and the next morning, on 9 February, Carroll claimed that he entered Sinnott's bedroom and discovered that she was awake and she told him that she was planning to get a ride to her doctor later that day. Sinnott vanished without a trace. She did not visit a doctor that day, and there were no records of her having gone to any of the local surgeries. On 12 September 2008, a memorial plaque for Sinnott was stolen from a cemetery in [[Lady's Island Lake|Our Lady's Island]] in Wexford. The marble plaque, which had been cemented into the wall, was removed the night before it was due to be unveiled. In 2005, her case was upgraded to a murder investigation.<ref>{{cite news |title=Fiona Sinnott 25 years on: Some people in Wexford carry key to teenage mother's disappearance|url=https://www.independent.ie/regionals/wexford/news/fiona-sinnott-25-years-on-some-people-in-wexford-carry-key-to-teenage-mothers-disappearance-42337059.html|publisher=Independent}}</ref>
* '''Catherine "Kate" Madigan''', 35, was a primary school teacher and mother of one, who disappeared after she left [[St. Patrick's University Hospital]] in [[Dublin]] on 14 May 1998. She was admitted to the hospital on 5 February, for treatment for a mental illness which caused her to be severely depressed.<ref>{{cite news |title='Suicidal' new mum missing since walking from hospital|url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/suicidal-new-mum-missing-since-walking-from-hospital-26405849.html|publisher=Independent}}</ref> At 2 p.m., she left the hospital on her own. Hospital staff informed authorities that she was going for occupational therapy. She was seen on [[closed-circuit television]] leaving the hospital and was reported missing to Kilkenny Gardaí that same day. Catherine is presumed dead, but her body has never been found. Her clothes were found at [[Bray Head]] on 20 May 1998.
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[[Category:Triangles]]
[[Category:Unidentified serial killers]]
[[Category:Suspected serial killers]]
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