GARDA COMMISSIONER DREW Harris has said that investigating Gardaí are keeping “an open mind” on how they believe Annie McCarrick disappeared “and how ultimately then she met her death”.
Annie McCarrick was 26 years old when she disappeared in March 1993. At the time, a missing persons case was opened, but thirty years on, the case was reclassified as a murder investigation last Friday.
Harris said that the case was upgraded after Gardaí reviewed the initial investigation into her disappearance, and examining the “victimology around Annie McCarrick and what happened that day”.
The last sighting of Annie occurred on 26 March, 1993, when she was captured on CCTV visiting the Allied Irish Bank on Sandymount Road to carry out some personal banking, before 11am in the morning.
By 28 March , Annie’s friends grew concerned for her welfare. She was not at home on the evening of the 27th when they called to have a prearranged dinner with her, and she had not turned up for work on the 27th or the 28th.
Groceries purchased by Annie on the morning of the 26th had been left in shoppings bags in her apartment. The receipt that was in the bag confirmed that the date and time that the groceries were purchased as 26/03/1993 at 11:02am.
After a friend of Annie’s called to her apartment on the evening of the 28th and spoke to her flatmates, she was reported missing to Gardaí.
The purchase of the groceries is Annie’s last confirmed activity.
Harris said that their assessment of Annie, and the day of her last confirmed sighting, suggest that she was “very content to be living here in Ireland, she conducted banking business which showed her future was here in Ireland, even the fact that she had bought groceries that day, the fact that she made arrangements to meet with her friends and then inexplicably now she is lost to us and disappeared.”
Harris said that the Gardaí are now taking the upgraded murder investigation “very seriously”.
“Again, we would ask anyone in the public who has any information whatsoever about those last movements of Annie McCarrick. We obviously would want to know that.
“I know it’s 30 years ago, but still we hope that the coverage this has received will jog some memories or indeed others who have had information and held onto it for three decades will come forward now with that information,” he added.
When asked if developments in forensic technology could make a difference in the case today, Harris said that forensics play a part in any murder investigation, but it would be “incorrect to say it is just about forensics”.
Harris stated that people may make “assumptions”, when asked about people potentially thinking that the case has been upgraded due to information on a new potential suspect.
“We are going forward not having made assumptions about the next steps of this investigation. We are concentrating on what we’re absolutely sure of in terms of her actions that day, what was recovered from her home and what we’ve seen on the CCTV from the bank.
“That’s the last proper sighting of Annie McCarrick and I think it’s entirely appropriate to go back to that point and then start moving forward from there,” he added.
The original missing persons case
Annie had not only made plans to have friends over for dinner on 27 March, she was also planning to have her mother stay with her from New York, who was due to arrive on 30 March 1993.
Annie was reported missing by a friend on the evening of 28 March at Irishtown Garda Station.
This missing person report was confirmed by her mother Nancy when she arrived in Dublin on 30 March 1993.
Subsequently, there were reported sightings of Annie in the Sandymount Green area, reported sightings of the young woman boarding a No 44 bus bound for Enniskerry and a number of further reported sightings in Enniskerry village and Johnny Fox’s pub.
Annie McCarrick was born on 21 March 1967 and was 26 years old at the time of her disappearance. She was the only child of her father John (deceased) and mother Nancy and was originally from New York.
Annie visited Ireland, as a teenager, on a school trip. Her parents say that she fell in love with Ireland and the Irish way of life and how upon her return to New York, she indicated her intention to return to Ireland to live, gardaí said today.
In the late 1980’s, Annie McCarrick completed third level studies at St Patrick’s College, Drumcondra and at St Patrick’s College, Maynooth before returning to New York in 1991, where she attended Stoney Brook University, New York.
On 4 January 1993, she moved to Ireland to live permanently. She settled in rental accommodation at St Catherine’s Court, Sandymount, Dublin 4, with two other tenants.
Annie is described as 5’8″ in height, 10 stone, long brown hair. She spoke with a soft Irish-American accent. When Annie disappeared, it is believed she was in possession of a large brown leather bag.
Anyone with information on Annie McCarrick’s disappearance, or who spoke to or interacted her on or after 26 March 1993 is asked to either contact the investigation team at Irishtown Garda Station at 01 6669600, their local Garda Station or the Garda Confidential telephone line 1800 666 111.”
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