Disappearance of Fiona Pender

Fiona Pender is an Irish woman who disappeared from her home in Tullamore, County Offaly on 23 August 1996 at the age of 25. She was seven months pregnant at the time of her disappearance.^[1] Gardaí suspect she was murdered.^[2] Her disappearance was upgraded to a murder investigation in 2025.^[3]

Fiona Pender
Born	(1971-07-13)13 July 1971
Disappeared	23 August 1996 (aged 25) Tullamore, County Offaly, Ireland
Status	Missing for 28 years, 11 months and 5 days
Occupations	Hairdresser model
Partner	John Thompson

Background

Fiona Pender, born 13 July 1971,^[4][1] was the only daughter of Sean and Josephine Pender and she had two brothers, Mark and John. Mark died in 1995. Prior to her disappearance Fiona had worked as a hairdresser and as a model.^[4] She had lived in Croydon, London for a time where she worked in a hotel before returning to Ireland.^[5]

She was living with her partner, John Thompson, in a flat in Tullamore, County Offaly at the time of her disappearance. She was seven months pregnant.

Disappearance

On the day before her disappearance, Fiona had spent the day with her mother where they went shopping for baby clothes. She was described as being happy and looking forward to the birth of her child.^[6] On 23 August 1996 Fiona was last seen at 6am by her partner John at their home on Church Street, Tullamore when he left to work on his family farm. A friend of Fiona's visited the home later that day but received no answer at the door. Fiona was reported missing by her family on the following day^[5] and five days later Gardaí issued a national alert for information on her disappearance.^[7]

Missing person investigations

Numerous searches for Fiona were conducted in late August 1996, including searches of the Grand Canal and Tullamore River. Searches for Fiona included Garda sub-aqua units, Air Corps helicopters, members of the civil defence, and tracker dogs. All maternity units in Ireland and the UK were notified of Fiona's disappearance as she was pregnant at the time of her disappearance. However, no trace of Fiona or her baby were found.^[5]

In the early stages of the investigation, a local man contacted Gardaí to say he had seen two men carrying what looked like a rolled up carpet from Fiona's apartment on Church Street around the time she went missing, before they then placed the object in the back of four-wheel drive vehicle. Another witness came forward to say he was nearly forced off the road by a four-wheel drive vehicle driving at speed towards the Slieve Bloom Mountains on the night she was last seen alive.^[7]

Fiona's partner, John Thompson, claimed to have stayed at his family's farm when she vanished and had no idea what happened to Fiona.^[7] Thompson, along with his three sisters and their father, were arrested for questioning by Gardaí in April of 1997, however they were released without charge.^[8] John Thompson was later identified as a suspect in the case.^[9] In 1999, Gardaí included Fiona Pender in Operation Trace, an inquiry into a number of high-profile disappearances of women in the 1990s.^[10]

In May 2008, a makeshift cross was found in Monicknew woods in the Slieve Bloom mountains reading "Fiona Pender. Buried here, August 22nd, 1996." This discovery lead to searches in the area for Fiona but nothing was found. However, Gardaí do not believe the cross was placed there as a hoax. Gardaí noted that the cross stated that Fiona was buried on the 22nd, despite her being reported last seen on the 23rd.^[11]

In 2014 it was reported that the prime suspect in Fiona's disappearance was arrested abroad.^[12] It was reported that the suspect was arrested in the Canadian city of Saskatoon for sexually assaulting and threatening to kill his wife.^[13] It was also reported that the current partner of the main suspect in Fiona's disappearance was cooperating with Gardaí. The woman told police in the country she now resides in that her partner had threatened her and claimed to have killed Fiona and buried her in the Slieve Bloom Mountains.^[14] She further alleged that he had taken her to a specific area of woodland when they were home on holidays and told her that Fiona was buried there.^[15] This information led to further searches for Fiona in a forest near Rosenallis involving forensic archaeologists and cadaver dogs, that ultimately did not recover her body.^[16] Gardaí had acted on the woman's claims as it tallied with previous information regarding a four-wheel drive vehicle relevant to the investigation traveling towards Slieve Bloom around the time Fiona disappeared.^[7]

Murder investigation

The inquiry into Pender's disappearance was upgraded to a murder investigation in early 2025^[17] after Gardaí began searches in an area of farmland close to Killeigh village on 26 May 2025.^[3] A 7 day temporary no fly zone for unmanned drones was also declared over the search area near Graigue townland by the Irish Aviation Authority on the same day.^[18][19] On 28 May 2025, Gardaí began searching land to the south of Clonaslee in relation to Pender's disappearance, which was near to an area previously searched in 2008.^[20] A temporary no fly zone for unmanned drones was declared over the new search area by the IAA also.^[21] Both investigations ended by 30 May 2025, without the recovery of any human remains.^[22] A source close to the inquiry claimed that the new searches were prompted after a witness, who personally knew both Pender and the prime suspect in her murder, had come forward to Gardaí with new "credible information" regarding the circumstances of her disappearance.^[23]

Reports in the Irish media suggested that the case was upgraded to a murder inquiry and the most recent searches were launched after new "highly significant" information was received by Gardaí. It was also reported that investigating officers still believed their original prime suspect, who was detained for questioning in 1997, was responsible for Fiona's disappearance. However, he has been living abroad in self-imposed exile for over ten years and authorities cannot seek his extradition to Ireland without firm evidence of his involvement in her death.^[24]

Aftermath

Fiona Pender's disappearance was highly publicized in Ireland and often included in connection with disappearances collectively known as Ireland's Vanishing Triangle.^[25]

In 2014, a memorial and walking trail were created to commemorate Fiona Pender in Offaly. Fiona's Way is a 4.5 km walk along the canal in Tullamore.^[26] In 2022, Ashling Murphy was murdered while jogging on Fiona's Way.^[27]

In 2016, Fiona's mother Josephine revealed that Fiona's father Sean had died by suicide as he struggled to cope with the loss of Fiona, her baby, and his son Mark who had died a year before Fiona's disappearance.^[28] Josephine died in 2017.

Media

Fiona Pender's disappearance was highly publicised and covered in the true crime books Missing by Barry Cummins,^[29] Missing, Presumed by Alan Bailey,^[30] and The Vanishing Triangle by Claire McGowan.^[31]

Her disappearance was also covered on multiple occasions on Crimecall,^[32][33] an Irish television show which seeks public assistance in solving unsolved crimes. It was also featured in the documentary television series Six Silent Killings: Ireland’s Vanishing Triangle.^[34]

See also

• List of people who disappeared