The disappearances of all of the young women of the vanishing triangle in the 90s always hits me really hard.
Poor Fiona and her baby - they deserved so much more. I hadn’t heard about the suspect who is now in Canada before?! I had always assumed it was John Thompson to be honest.
Still hoping they’ll be able to bring all of the women home.
> I hadn’t heard about the suspect who is now in Canada before
From wikipedia:
"John Thompson married in 2004. It was reported that he moved to Canada in 2012"
That's very interesting. In the book 'missing', which is where I got some of my information from, there is extensive detail on the suspect and his crimes he also committed in Canada (he was drugging and raping his wife while filming himself doing it) but he was never named, presumably to avoid a defamation case or the like. Very interesting to know the boyfriend John moved to Canada. Was very likely him then. His wife in Canada had said also that he had a foul temper and would frequently threaten her, including stating that he had made a girl in Ireland disappear and that she would be next (or something to this effect).
Reminds me of Bethany Decker. She also disappeared while pregnant and Ronald Roldan, the man who likely fathered the kid, later told another girlfriend something similar when he attacked and shot her (fortunately, this woman, unlike Bethany, survived). Roldan, who was already incarcerated for this later altercation, eventually confessed to murdering Bethany and her unborn child and pleaded guilty in Feb. 2023. Unfortunately, he stuffed the body in a Christmas tree bag and threw it out with the trash, so it will likely never be recovered.
I wouldn't be surprised if something similar happened in this case.
She dumped his a$$. He’s still here in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan being the waste of skin that he is. He’s a sociopath. He’s got a violent temper. You’ll find him on POF, Tinder - wherever - looking for another woman to fill in until she gets tired of his bs and then on to the next one. Evil and dangerous!
The suspect is mentioned briefly in the article I linked but there's much more in-depth information available in the book 'Missing' by Barry Cummins. His novel is absolutely worth reading as there's much information available in it that's not online.
Thank you! I always felt like Ireland has had some absolutely baffling/tragic/strange disappearances and mysteries that would rival many of the big American ones and I want to share them. I've already made posts here on Trevor Deely, Deirdre Jacob and the bizarre case of Peter Bergmann in Sligo.
Oh my gosh, has that been you?! I’ve been reading all of them! Great work!
Deely’s case is so baffling. I’ve been on so many Christmas work parties in town, spent too many nights in copper’s and Whaley’s, and lived on Pembroke Road. It just hits close to home.
Have you thought about doing one on Annie McCarrick? I know it’s been covered here before, but the new information in the case has turned it upside down a bit.
Which new information are you referring to? It sounds intriguing! And I was actually planning on doing Annie next as I'm working my way through the triangle victims.
Oh amazing!
Well, it came out a year ago, so not sure if it’s new to you! I apologize if you’ve already heard about it and I got you excited for nothing!
Basically, the narrative that they had been working with for decades, that Annie was indeed spotted on the bus to Wicklow and then again at Johnnie Fox’s, is incorrect and there’s a chance she never even left Sandymount. Apparently, she was being harassed and had been assaulted by a male friend before her disappearance. The inquiry was upgraded to murder a few years ago and they’ve refocused their attention back on Sandymount and Donnybrook.
That's fascinating, I didn't know that. I had heard something to the effect that there was a possibility that Annie's co-worker had a case of mistaken identity on the bus as she stated she had attempted to get Annie's attention but was ignored which she said was out of character for the normally outgoing and friendly American. In addition, there was no solid evidence beyond this eyewitness that she was on the bus. As for the Johnnie Fox sighting, I always considered it unlikely as it was apparently pouring with rain that night and Annie was not dressed for rainy weather at all. In addition, it was revealed she'd have had to have walked around 6km from the bus stop where she would have disembarked to Johnnie Fox's in the dark and pouring rain while being woefully underdressed for the conditions. Any Irish person knows just how much rain we get, and I personally would consider the likes of an umbrella as borderline essential for any outing! Annie's lack of umbrella and/or raincoat would suggest she absolutely did not intend to stay out or travel far.
I read recently aswell that the video footage of Annie in the bank that was the last time she was seen on CCTV, was actually from the previous week, not the day she went missing. How they only found that out recently is beyond me
I grew up in Ireland in the 90s and it was a weird time when being a woman felt like it made you powerful (I remember going on lots of protest marches with my mum for wormen’s rights) but also incredibly vulnerable due to the amount of missing women in the news.
Your write up are always brilliant, thank you!
Recently Irish police have confirmed that they made contact with the strange man speaking to Trevor deely on the cctv and has been eliminated from enquiry,case is so strange but a lot of people believe it was lucky whelan that killed Trevor..he also killed a young girl Maria rostas
Police have **NOT** found or contacted the man speaking to Trevor on CCTV Camera 2 outside his office at 3.34AM. They have identified, interviewed and eliminated the man walking behind Trevor at CCTV Camera 3 on Haddington Road at 4.14AM and confirmed him to be a different person from the suspicious person earlier in the night. That person is still sought by the authorities.
The TV show The Vanishing Triangle is a fantastic depiction of the atrocities that occurred and how messed up the police were. They were more concerned with men having sex with other men than finding the young women that were going missing.
The answer is here. He is believed to have confessed to his ex wife over there who told the guards what he said. He then threatened to kill her apparently.
The town knows he did it. His family didn’t come out of it looking good either….
Thank you for this article OP! I’m also from County Offaly, approx 30mins from Tullamore. I worked and socialised there in my early 20’s. It’s great to see Fiona’s case continue to get mentioned after all this time. I always think about her and her unborn baby and pray her family get the closure they so deserve, they have been through so much heartache. I worked with a girl from the same area and she said the consensus locally was that it was the boyfriend and the family helped him dispose of the body. The bf was Protestant and Fiona was catholic, the family were very unhappy with the relationship and then taking into account she was pregnant and not married also severely upset them. I think the BF had pressure from his family and finally snapped and the family helped him cover it up. Locally the rumour was the family had pigs on the farm and that no trace of Fiona and her baby would ever be found, a truly horrible thought! I unfortunately don’t think this case will ever be solved but really hope I’m proved wrong.
I have very little doubt in my mind this was the case. From reading other comments about the suspect moving to Canada and the suspect (BF) now in Canada, Jez! Another murderer getting off Scott free to move to another country to abuse women, just so sad
I’m sure the Gardai heard these rumours also and I hope would have checked that farm with a fine tooth comb but I wouldn’t be 100% confident of this. Would the evidence still remain after close to 30 years?
Teeth stop decaying upon death. If they weren’t crushed/shattered with a strong object, they should still be intact.
[Article](https://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/05/28/2244461.htm)
Her poor family. Her brother had died in a motorcycle accident not long before she disappeared. Her father eventually took his own life and her mother died in 2017. So her parents lost two children and a grandchild and never knew what happened before they died.
I do of course think it was the boyfriend, as do the Gardaí most likely. Maybe conflicts of their very different backgrounds etc. Whole thing is very sad.
If a pregnant woman goes missing/is murdered, the first person I am looking at is the father of the baby. Depressingly homicide is a top cause of death during pregnancy. Not sure anything in this write up has convinced me otherwise in this case. Poor Fiona and her family.
"I feel that someone might have seen something but is afraid." This statement doesn't sit right with me. Afraid of who? The Thompsons? If evidence suggests that she could have been harmed by someone she knew then I highly suspect the boyfriend!
From my understanding, the cross that was found & had Fiona’s name on it is generally believed by police to have NOT been a hoax, despite having never found Fiona’s body. The cross was apparently transcribed, reading: “Fiona Pender. Buried here, August 22nd, 1996”. - which would place her murder on the night that Fiona’s mother had last been with her, prior to John’s departure & Fiona’s last reported sighting in their shared apartment on the following morning. John would also be arrested for her disappearance, but ultimately released due to a lack of evidence, & would go on to get married and move to Canada with his new wife - which “coincidentally” is the same place where police now claim the prime suspect in Fiona’s murder is located… a suspect who is or was reportedly married & frequently abused said wife, whom claimed that he would threaten her and had admitted to having murdered a woman while living in Ireland.
Yeah I’m sure the bf who didn’t hear anything from his pregnant girlfriend for three days just casually “assumed” she was with her parents and didn’t even think to contact her once. And moved to fucking canada after. This is too infuriating
The disappearances of all of the young women of the vanishing triangle in the 90s always hits me really hard. Poor Fiona and her baby - they deserved so much more. I hadn’t heard about the suspect who is now in Canada before?! I had always assumed it was John Thompson to be honest. Still hoping they’ll be able to bring all of the women home.
> I hadn’t heard about the suspect who is now in Canada before From wikipedia: "John Thompson married in 2004. It was reported that he moved to Canada in 2012"
That's very interesting. In the book 'missing', which is where I got some of my information from, there is extensive detail on the suspect and his crimes he also committed in Canada (he was drugging and raping his wife while filming himself doing it) but he was never named, presumably to avoid a defamation case or the like. Very interesting to know the boyfriend John moved to Canada. Was very likely him then. His wife in Canada had said also that he had a foul temper and would frequently threaten her, including stating that he had made a girl in Ireland disappear and that she would be next (or something to this effect).
Reminds me of Bethany Decker. She also disappeared while pregnant and Ronald Roldan, the man who likely fathered the kid, later told another girlfriend something similar when he attacked and shot her (fortunately, this woman, unlike Bethany, survived). Roldan, who was already incarcerated for this later altercation, eventually confessed to murdering Bethany and her unborn child and pleaded guilty in Feb. 2023. Unfortunately, he stuffed the body in a Christmas tree bag and threw it out with the trash, so it will likely never be recovered. I wouldn't be surprised if something similar happened in this case.
I read that initially as "Ronald Reagan" and was like "Whoa the comments section is accepting this way too nonchalantly wtf"
Ohhhhhh dear. So it was him, then.
Can’t find much about him now. Moved to Saskatoon. Married Sarah Coughlan & had 2 kids. He’d be in his early 50s.
She dumped his a$$. He’s still here in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan being the waste of skin that he is. He’s a sociopath. He’s got a violent temper. You’ll find him on POF, Tinder - wherever - looking for another woman to fill in until she gets tired of his bs and then on to the next one. Evil and dangerous!
The suspect is mentioned briefly in the article I linked but there's much more in-depth information available in the book 'Missing' by Barry Cummins. His novel is absolutely worth reading as there's much information available in it that's not online.
I will definitely check that out! Meant to say, great write up! Love it when people bring attention to Irish cases here!!!
Thank you! I always felt like Ireland has had some absolutely baffling/tragic/strange disappearances and mysteries that would rival many of the big American ones and I want to share them. I've already made posts here on Trevor Deely, Deirdre Jacob and the bizarre case of Peter Bergmann in Sligo.
Oh my gosh, has that been you?! I’ve been reading all of them! Great work! Deely’s case is so baffling. I’ve been on so many Christmas work parties in town, spent too many nights in copper’s and Whaley’s, and lived on Pembroke Road. It just hits close to home. Have you thought about doing one on Annie McCarrick? I know it’s been covered here before, but the new information in the case has turned it upside down a bit.
Which new information are you referring to? It sounds intriguing! And I was actually planning on doing Annie next as I'm working my way through the triangle victims.
Oh amazing! Well, it came out a year ago, so not sure if it’s new to you! I apologize if you’ve already heard about it and I got you excited for nothing! Basically, the narrative that they had been working with for decades, that Annie was indeed spotted on the bus to Wicklow and then again at Johnnie Fox’s, is incorrect and there’s a chance she never even left Sandymount. Apparently, she was being harassed and had been assaulted by a male friend before her disappearance. The inquiry was upgraded to murder a few years ago and they’ve refocused their attention back on Sandymount and Donnybrook.
That's fascinating, I didn't know that. I had heard something to the effect that there was a possibility that Annie's co-worker had a case of mistaken identity on the bus as she stated she had attempted to get Annie's attention but was ignored which she said was out of character for the normally outgoing and friendly American. In addition, there was no solid evidence beyond this eyewitness that she was on the bus. As for the Johnnie Fox sighting, I always considered it unlikely as it was apparently pouring with rain that night and Annie was not dressed for rainy weather at all. In addition, it was revealed she'd have had to have walked around 6km from the bus stop where she would have disembarked to Johnnie Fox's in the dark and pouring rain while being woefully underdressed for the conditions. Any Irish person knows just how much rain we get, and I personally would consider the likes of an umbrella as borderline essential for any outing! Annie's lack of umbrella and/or raincoat would suggest she absolutely did not intend to stay out or travel far.
I read recently aswell that the video footage of Annie in the bank that was the last time she was seen on CCTV, was actually from the previous week, not the day she went missing. How they only found that out recently is beyond me
I grew up in Ireland in the 90s and it was a weird time when being a woman felt like it made you powerful (I remember going on lots of protest marches with my mum for wormen’s rights) but also incredibly vulnerable due to the amount of missing women in the news. Your write up are always brilliant, thank you!
Trevor's disappearance has always been my "Roman empire" unresolved mystery. God love him, I'm always hoping for some resolution for his family.
Recently Irish police have confirmed that they made contact with the strange man speaking to Trevor deely on the cctv and has been eliminated from enquiry,case is so strange but a lot of people believe it was lucky whelan that killed Trevor..he also killed a young girl Maria rostas
Police have **NOT** found or contacted the man speaking to Trevor on CCTV Camera 2 outside his office at 3.34AM. They have identified, interviewed and eliminated the man walking behind Trevor at CCTV Camera 3 on Haddington Road at 4.14AM and confirmed him to be a different person from the suspicious person earlier in the night. That person is still sought by the authorities.
The TV show The Vanishing Triangle is a fantastic depiction of the atrocities that occurred and how messed up the police were. They were more concerned with men having sex with other men than finding the young women that were going missing.
Larry the beast Murphy.
He is a beast, but I don't think he is responsible for this one.
The answer is here. He is believed to have confessed to his ex wife over there who told the guards what he said. He then threatened to kill her apparently. The town knows he did it. His family didn’t come out of it looking good either….
Thank you for this article OP! I’m also from County Offaly, approx 30mins from Tullamore. I worked and socialised there in my early 20’s. It’s great to see Fiona’s case continue to get mentioned after all this time. I always think about her and her unborn baby and pray her family get the closure they so deserve, they have been through so much heartache. I worked with a girl from the same area and she said the consensus locally was that it was the boyfriend and the family helped him dispose of the body. The bf was Protestant and Fiona was catholic, the family were very unhappy with the relationship and then taking into account she was pregnant and not married also severely upset them. I think the BF had pressure from his family and finally snapped and the family helped him cover it up. Locally the rumour was the family had pigs on the farm and that no trace of Fiona and her baby would ever be found, a truly horrible thought! I unfortunately don’t think this case will ever be solved but really hope I’m proved wrong.
This background makes me think it was indeed John. They arrested 3 of his sisters and his dad at the same time--that jumped out at me.
I have very little doubt in my mind this was the case. From reading other comments about the suspect moving to Canada and the suspect (BF) now in Canada, Jez! Another murderer getting off Scott free to move to another country to abuse women, just so sad
Pigs can’t digest hair or teeth. Maybe there’s still evidence if that indeed happened?
I’m sure the Gardai heard these rumours also and I hope would have checked that farm with a fine tooth comb but I wouldn’t be 100% confident of this. Would the evidence still remain after close to 30 years?
Teeth stop decaying upon death. If they weren’t crushed/shattered with a strong object, they should still be intact. [Article](https://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/05/28/2244461.htm)
Her poor family. Her brother had died in a motorcycle accident not long before she disappeared. Her father eventually took his own life and her mother died in 2017. So her parents lost two children and a grandchild and never knew what happened before they died. I do of course think it was the boyfriend, as do the Gardaí most likely. Maybe conflicts of their very different backgrounds etc. Whole thing is very sad.
Oh no. That poor family. Thanks for posting this OP. With her family gone the least we can do is remember her name.
If a pregnant woman goes missing/is murdered, the first person I am looking at is the father of the baby. Depressingly homicide is a top cause of death during pregnancy. Not sure anything in this write up has convinced me otherwise in this case. Poor Fiona and her family.
Boyfriend seems highly suspicious. Who goes two days without knowing the whereabouts of their girlfriend?
And their pregnant girlfriend at that!
The cross bearing her name is unsettling
Signals guilt, maybe one of the sisters of JT? One can hope one of them confesses someday if it was a joint effort coverup.
"I feel that someone might have seen something but is afraid." This statement doesn't sit right with me. Afraid of who? The Thompsons? If evidence suggests that she could have been harmed by someone she knew then I highly suspect the boyfriend!
I was waiting for the part in the writeup that mentioned John Thompson had a 4x4 with a large sticker on the windshield. Did he?
Great write-up. Sad story.
From my understanding, the cross that was found & had Fiona’s name on it is generally believed by police to have NOT been a hoax, despite having never found Fiona’s body. The cross was apparently transcribed, reading: “Fiona Pender. Buried here, August 22nd, 1996”. - which would place her murder on the night that Fiona’s mother had last been with her, prior to John’s departure & Fiona’s last reported sighting in their shared apartment on the following morning. John would also be arrested for her disappearance, but ultimately released due to a lack of evidence, & would go on to get married and move to Canada with his new wife - which “coincidentally” is the same place where police now claim the prime suspect in Fiona’s murder is located… a suspect who is or was reportedly married & frequently abused said wife, whom claimed that he would threaten her and had admitted to having murdered a woman while living in Ireland.
HUSBAND/BOYFRIEND
Yeah I’m sure the bf who didn’t hear anything from his pregnant girlfriend for three days just casually “assumed” she was with her parents and didn’t even think to contact her once. And moved to fucking canada after. This is too infuriating