Unsolved Irish Mysteries.

Apologies, I misspoke, he wasn't Jojo's ex. He doesn't seem to have had any prior direct connection to her but has seemingly emerged as key suspect.

I don't know where the belief the bank CCTV footage came from the day she disappeared came from, possibly no more than a Garda clerical or typing error I suspect, mistakes happen and usually aren't sinister. Seemingly the original info was correct all along, bank CCTV was from almost an entire week before. I think the Quinnsworth receipt has been confirmed as from day she disappeared. Lucan to Kinnegad sighting has not appeared in any recent media reports, I would assume was ruled out long ago.

I’ve read that she worked in cafe java opposite o briens pub on Leeson st. I used to go there in the 90s and there’s no way anything served was baked at home by staff. It’s always just standard fare, same as every other cafe java. I think I read somewhere that she might have been planning to bring cakes for her coworkers which seems strange. Baking for home guests makes more sense.

Even if bank CCTV WAS from day she disappeared rather than 11 days before, I'm not sure if it would tell us much….other than she was still alive and in Sandymount at some point on the Friday, at the very least in the morning? Which I think is not in dispute anyway, wasn't there a Quinnsworth receipt discovered in her apartment from same day, i.e. day she disappeared?

It's interesting in that the visit to AIB on March 26th has been part of the reported timeline for so long.

Was she actually seen buying the shopping by anyone or was there just a bag of groceries with a receipt left in her flat

Yeah, first article definitely states last sighting in Johnny Foxes pub. Should have been worded 'unconfirmed sighting in Johnny Foxes pub' or 'woman matching Annie's description seen in Johnny Foxes pub'. For those not familar with area, Foxe's pub isn't even in Enniskerry, it's a good 6km away over hilly country roads.

So maybe she went to Enniskerry and walking around the village got chatting to a fella who seemed nice, then agreed to accompany him to Foxes in his car for a few pints? Seems extremely, incredibly, vanishingly unlikely. Even if said hypothetical fella said, "sure we'll only have the one drink, then I'll drop you back to Sandymount." To me, it's just completely infeasible as a scenario, even given the time and year, much less traffic on roads, pre Celtic Tiger Ireland, and so on.

Annie wasn't type to make very impulsive decisions at the drop of a hat, if anything the opposite, descriptions from people who knew her well speak of a fairly calm and stable personality, not impulsive, and I don't get the impression she was much of a drinker or pub person. She simply wouldn't have planned a meal for friends and then, gone "oh I know, I've a few hours to kill, think I'll head out to Enniskerry on the bus, I've always wanted to visit the place", and then gone "yeah, might as well go head off to a pub half way up the mountains for a few drinks with a bloke I just met. " Yes, young people sometimes do spontaneous/crazy/impulsive things, but Annie didn't seem like that sort of young person at all, far from it.

Just goes to show for all that people complain about tabloids and redtops, here we have the so-called paper of record, the respectable Irish Times, screwing up massively.

And I should have given credit to recent cases where the Gardai have brought killers to justice by excellent police work.

The murder of "Mr. Moonlight" by Pat Quirke comes to mind. And the murder of Nora Sheehan by Noel Long in 1981 - he was convicted over 40 years later, a good example of a cold case investigation finally bringing a killer to justice. The problem is not that the Gardai lack investigative skills - it seems to be a managerial problem i.e. the under-performers are never dealt with (as Maurice McCabe discovered to his cost)

Yep, spot on. Two points I would make:

(1) Media also somewhat culpable, as other posters mentioned

(2) I'd wonder if the Guards at the time were being too influenced by US research/investigative techniques - and there are plenty of examples of 'serial killer roaming the hills' and/or 'dodgy interstate truck driver who operated in certain areas' being a genuine and proven thing in the US, Canada also to a lesser extent, even the UK to some extent.

edit: Jo-Jo's alleged perp I don't think had met her before? But basically you're spot on.

Annie lived with them in Clondalkin 1987/1988

When she left to go back to US, presume she gave them her phone number. Back then your parents number was the most reliable one to give out.

I see.

But would it still be a bit unusually for the brother to be sitting in a pub in Sandymount and have the US number written down somewhere on him but not Annie's Irish number written down?

Pre mobiles and all that..

The abduction and murder of DJ might not be as random/opportunistic as reported either. It's been said that a carpenter who is a person of interest in the case had carried out work in her grandmothers shop a few weeks previously, this person is known for hunting/stalking animals as well as women.

With the benefit of hindsight it's quite possible that he was following her for some days/weeks and knew where to get her rather than just happened to be driving along the road. She was seen by someone known to her at the gate of her home but her parents knew she hadn't made it into the house as the alarm was still on.

I'd guess that was butter and cream

Prior to mobile phones, yes a lot of people would have kept a notebook with contacts phone numbers, for convenience to avoid having to look up telephone directory (vast majority of houses and apartments had telephone directories) or for keeping record of non-Irish numbers, or Irish numbers which were ex-directory.

"With what is now known, was that call to Annies mother showing genuine concern though?"

That's what I'd wonder about. Or was it genuine concern, with reason for said concern being he knew what brother was allegedly capable of?

As far as I can read the very faded receipt, those two items both say Odlums. A well known brand of flour. There are 2 packets, which could have been Plain flour and Self-raising. There's also sugar and some Black Plums.