Radio Espial

On the 23rd of February 2011, 38-year-old Esra Uyrun leaves her home in Clondalkin, Dublin, Ireland in the small family car. It’s around 7.20 am and she has told her husband Ozgur that she is just popping out briefly to pick up milk and some bits and pieces for the day at the local early-opening shop in nearby Nielstown. Her husband is busy getting ready for work and looking after their two and a half year old son. He has decided to visit the gym today and will take the car that day. Most often, Esra takes him to work in and picks him up when he finishes later in the day. It’s cool and cloudy and Esra wants to make sure she has everything and won’t have to go out without the car. The couple have been living in Dublin for almost four years since Ozgur secured a better paid job and they moved to Ireland from London. Originally, both are of Turkish heritage and met in the UK. That’s where their families still live. Esra Uyrun was born into a Turkish family in London in 1972. When she li

In the late afternoon, 12th of June, 2009, a man believed to be in his mid-to-late fifties, thin with short grey hair, with a strong German accent checks into the Sligo City Hotel in County Sligo, Ireland. Four days later, on the morning of June 16th, his lifeless body is discovered by a father and son on the sand and rocks at Rosses Point Beach, a short journey from Sligo Town. The body of the man is only partially clothed and it appears he has been the victim of an unfortunate drowning. However, within days, the possible identity of the man and his last known days in Sligo will lead to more perplexing questions for police investigators examining his case. Over the course of several weeks, countless witness interviews and statements, an intriguing mystery of an unidentified man with no known links to the Sligo area, nor Ireland, will begin to unravel. What we can be certain of is the name he used was simply an alias; that he was terminally ill at the time of his visit to Sligo, Irelan

At the time of her disappearance Claire Boylan was 36 years of age, single and living with her parents in Terenure, an upmarket South Dublin suburb in Ireland. Terenure is the same neighbourhood where Eva Brennan attended church on the day she disappeared. Claire, like Eva, was a similar age and described by her family as “shy and retiring and a creature of habit.” On the morning of Sunday the 2nd of March 2003, Claire informed her family that she intended to travel to Tullamore Co. Offaly to meet an old school friend, and left her family home. However, Claire’s friend informed Gardai (Irish police) that Claire never made contact with her to arrange a visit on the 2nd of March, nor did Claire contact her friend subsequently to the day she disappeared. No evidence has emerged that Claire ever travelled the 100 kilometre distance from South Dublin to Tullamore. She was formally reported missing by her brother, Bernard, on Tuesday, 4th March 2003. No evidence or substantive leads in her m

Patricia Doherty, aged 29, was a prison officer at Mountjoy Prison in Dublin, Ireland. She had returned to her home in Tallaght, Dublin just before 9 pm on the evening of 23rd December 1991, following a busy day of Christmas shopping. But that evening, on a last minute spur of the moment thought, she decided she wanted to get Santa hats for her two young children. Time was of the essence. It was reported that she had a long work shift on Christmas Eve and this was her last chance to have everything organised. She was spotted at two locations, one near the Old Bawn Shopping Centre just before it closed and another by a local pub called Bridget Burke’s. But Patricia never returned home that evening. On Christmas day, Patricia's husband formally reported his wife missing. The Irish police were able to find a witness who reported seeing Patricia at around 9:20pm on the 23rd of December walking past Bridget Burke's Pub towards the Old Bawn Shopping Centre. Then, a second witness cam

In this episode, Radio Espial looks at the unsolved cold case of Antoinette Smith from 1987. I'm delighted to say that I was joined by Ciaran McConnell from Irish Cold Cases and the website Ireland's Vanishing Triangle to review this case. CASE SUMMARY Antoinette Smith and her friend Marie attended a David Bowie concert at Slane Castle in County Meath, Ireland on Saturday, July 11th, 1987. The pair returned by bus to Dublin City centre arriving at Parnell Square around 11pm that night. They decided to finish their long day out after the concern at the La Mirage Discotheque on Parnell Street a short distance away. It was there that they met two men they knew. Having remained in the two men’s company for the rest of the night, they all left the nightclub shortly after 2am. Antoinette’s friend parted company with the group, deciding to head home while Antoinette stayed on speaking to the two men until all three walked the short distance to a taxi rank on O’Connell Street. The men

Deirdre Jacob is an Irish woman who disappeared very near her parent’s home just outside Newbridge town, County Kildare on the 28th July 1998 at the age of 18. In August 2018 the Garda Síochána (Irish police) announced that her disappearance was being treated as a murder case. CASE SUMMARY Deirdre Jacob was born on October 14th, 1979 to Michael and Bernadette Jacob and she spent her childhood growing up in a bungalow just outside Newbridge, County Kildare in an area called Roseberry. During the 1980s, it was a quiet place that had yet to see the sprawling housing developments that would soon come. When she completed school, Deirdre had developed a passion for writing, playing the piano, and she quickly decided she want to teach. She left Ireland in 1997 and began studying to be a primary level teacher at St. Mary’s College in Twickenham, London to qualify. By May 1998, her first year of study was completed and she returned back to her parent’s home in Newbridge, Ireland. During her tim

  Josephine "Jo Jo" Dullard, 21, of Callan, County Kilkenny, was living in Harold's Cross, County Dublin when she went missing on 9th November 1995. She had recently finished a beauty therapy course after finding it very difficult to juggle work and college. On the day she disappeared, she was planning on moving from Dublin back home to Callan for good. She had missed her last bus to Callan and had to take another bus to Naas, County Kildare instead. She was last known to be in the Moone area of County Kildare while hitchhiking home to Kilkenny. She had been driven from the Naas area to Kilcullen, County Kildare and then on from Kilcullen to Moone. She was last seen using a payphone in Moone and through telephone records, Gardaí found out the call was made at 11:37 pm to Dullard's friend, Mary Cullinane. She ended the call as she was about to enter another car. There was also an unconfirmed sighting of her walking along the road in Castledermot, County Kildare. The d

Tina Satchwell is an Irish woman who went missing under suspicious circumstances in 2017, in County Cork, Republic of Ireland. Tina Satchwell is from St Bernard's Place in Fermoy, Cork. She lived with her husband for almost 28 years, Richard Satchwell, and their two dogs on Grattan Street in the seaside town of Youghal. The couple met when Tina was on a visit to the UK in 1989. Richard moved to Ireland within ten weeks of the pair meeting. Tina disappeared from her home on Monday 20th March 2017. She was last seen in public at a car boot sale with her husband in the town of Carrigtwohill the previous day (Sunday) 19th March. Richard was the last person to see her around 10 am on the Monday morning. He stated that Tina asked him to go to an Aldi store in Dungarvan to buy fish and dog food, and when he return to their home on Grattan Street in Youghal two hours later, she was gone. He officially reported her missing on Friday 24th March four days after he had last seen her. Tina was

Philip Cairns, a 13-year-old schoolboy, disappeared on the afternoon of the 23rd October 1986 while walking back to local secondary-level school, Coláiste Éanna in Rathfarnham, Dublin, after his lunch break. He never returned to school and has never been found after more than 36 years. A large-scale investigation was carried out but no physical trace of Philip has ever been found. His disappearance has long been treated as a high-profile child murder case, the only similar incident in Ireland being the murder of young Robert Holohan (11 years) in January 2005 and Philip’s case remains one of the most high-profile disappearances in recent Irish history. Across almost 37 years, Philip's family have issued numerous appeals for information. A reconstruction took place in 2007 and was later televised on Irish TV network, RTÉ One, while a reward of €10,000 has also been offered. The book, When Heaven Waits by Emma McMenamy, published in 2007, featured an interview with Philip's mothe

Kris Kremers and Lisanne Froon were Dutch students who disappeared on 1st April 2014, while hiking the El Pianista trail in Panama. After an extensive search, portions of their bodies were found a few months later. Their cause of death could not be determined definitively, but Dutch authorities working with forensic and search-rescue investigators initially thought it likely the students had accidentally fallen from a cliff or river bridge after becoming lost. However, foul play could not be entirely ruled out, and is considered by some much more likely due to other remains being found. The circumstances and aftermath of their disappearance have resulted in much speculation about their final days.  

Jean Tighe, a native of Cavan, Ireland goes missing from a hostel she is staying at in Parede, Portugal (located just outside the city of Lisbon) on July 13th, 2020. She is spotted by a hostel worker carrying her handbag, leaving to meet up with a Brazilian male friend. Jean has spent much of life travelling abroad as a free-spirit and has visited places all over Europe, India, Australia and South Africa. She can often be away from Ireland and her family for many months at a time but always makes sure she is back in Ireland from her travels during the Christmas period. Jean is described by her family and friends as very independent, outgoing, always wanting to meet people and make new friends, but generally travelled more often alone on her trips. She was known to be very streetwise and loved her bohemian lifestyle as a non-drinker and vegan. At 38 years of age (July 2020) she had experienced her share of personal ups and downs and found the period of lockdowns in Ireland at the begi

Nicola Bulley, 45, a mortgage advisor, was last seen on Friday morning at around 9.20am while walking her dog alongside the River Wyre in St Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire, UK. She had just dropped off two her daughters, aged six and nine, at the local school in the village. Ms Bulley’s phone was found, apparently still engaged on a work call, on a park bench nearby, along with the harness and lead for her dog, Willow, a springer spaniel. Journalist Mick Rooney examines the full case timeline for Radio Espial.