"Fiona was a really fun sister to have"

In a poignant and moving tribute to missing Tullamore woman, Fiona Pender, on RTE 1 last night (Monday) John Pender described his big sister as being "bright and bubbly" and said he had "nothing but good memories" of her. "Fiona was a really fun sister to have" he added.

John Pender, who is the last surviving member of the Pender family, was speaking on RTE's Crimecall programme where Gardai made a fresh public appeal for information into the case of the Tullamore hairdresser who was 25 years old and seven and a half months pregnant when she went missing in August 1996.

Gardai have made a number of appeals for information into the case to mark the 25th anniversary of Fiona Pender, who was last seen by her late mother, Josephine and her brother, John, on August 22, 1996 when they went shopping together in Tullamore for baby clothes.

Fiona returned to the flat on Church Street, in the centre of Tullamore which she shared with her then-boyfriend, John Thompson. She was last sighted at the flat at approximately 6am, the following morning, August 23, 1996.

As part of the Crimecall appeal for new information into the baffling case last night, John Pender, who was 10 years old when his only sister disappeared, said the family are "unfortunately no further on" and "still need people's help" to solve the mystery of what happened to Fiona.

"If there's any information that you think would be useful, make contact with someone you trust and let them pass it on" he said.

Mr. Pender also spoke about the devastating toll that the disappearance of his sister had on his family, and said his late father, Seán, had "died of a broken heart....he took his own life."

The Crimecall appeal showed John Pender standing alongside a stone sculpture which he designed and which now stands on the banks of the Canal in Tullamore as a monument to her memory. "I'm happy about (the monument) and it's a great place to pay our respects, it's the next best thing we have to a graveside" he poignantly added.

Fiona Pender is described as 5'5" in height, with long blond hair. When last seen, she was wearing bright coloured clothing with white leggings.

At the time she went missing 25 years ago, Garda carried out a number of extensive searches of farmland, canals, lakes and forests across Laois and Offaly.

in 2008, a significant excavation was undertaken in Monicknew woods in the Slieve Bloom mountains, but no new leads emerged. This was followed in 2014, by a two-week search in a forest area in Capard, Rosenallis, county Laois, after Garda were given new information, but once again no new leads emerged.

In a post on the Laois/Offaly Garda Facebook page this week, Gardai said they are seeking that "critical bit of information" that would help to secure justice for Fiona and her family. "An Garda Siochána would like to assure anyone who may come forward that any information received will be treated in a sensitive manner "the Facebook post stressed.

25 years on from her disappearance, the search for justice for Fiona Pender remains a sustained Garda investigation.

Her disappearance was one of a series of tragedies to befall the Pender family from Tullamore's Connolly Park. A year before she disappeared her brother, Mark, was killed in a tragic motorbike accident. Her father, Seán, took his life in 2000, and her mother, Josephine, who never gave up hope of finding her beloved only daughter, passed away in September 2017.

Anyone with information can contact Portlaoise Garda Station by calling (057) 8674100 or the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111.