LAST UPDATE | 27 May 2025

GARDAÍ HAVE HALTED their search of bogland in Co Offaly as part of the upgraded investigation into the murder of Fiona Pender, who went missing in 1996.

Fiona was last seen at around 6am on the morning of 23 August, 1996, at her flat at Church Street, in Tullamore. 

She was 25-years-old and seven months pregnant at the time she went missing.

It is understood that new information had been assessed by gardaí investigating the murder and they carried out a search.

It is believed Fiona was murdered by someone known by her and he body was buried. A number of people have been arrested since the mid 2010s but no one has been charged. 

Gardaí yesterday commenced a search at the Offaly site after upgrading the case from a missing person to a murder investigation.

A remote area of Graigue was sealed off yesterday as a search of the area commenced.

Fiona Pender was 25 when she disappeared in 1996.

Gardaí have been investigating Fiona’s disappearance for over 28 years.

Over the course of the investigation, thousands of documents and reports have been collated and over 300 statements of evidence have been taken.

Extensive searches have been previously carried out and five people were arrested and detained in connection with the investigation.

A garda spokesperson said yesterday that in that time, “significant enquiries have been carried out to establish Fiona’s whereabouts and to investigate the circumstances in which Fiona disappeared”. 

The spokesperson added that based on the information available to gardaí, the case had been re-classified the missing persons case as a murder investigation. 

They added that investigating gardaí continue to appeal to anyone who may have any information, but have not spoken to gardaí, to come forward to the investigation team.

The spokesperson also remarked that gardaí continue to appeal to anyone who may have previously come forward but felt that they could not provide gardaí with all the information they had.

Anyone with information, no matter how small or insignificant they might believe it to be, are urged to contact Tullamore Garda Station on 057 932 7600, or any Garda Station.

Anyone who wishes to provide information confidentially should contact the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111.