1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:19,119 Speaker 1: Parental discretion as advised violent sexual assault. The concept of 2 00:00:19,239 --> 00:00:23,640 Speaker 1: vanishing might seem anachronistic in today's age of social media 3 00:00:23,880 --> 00:00:28,320 Speaker 1: and surveillance capitalism, but few things have the capacity to 4 00:00:28,440 --> 00:00:32,400 Speaker 1: frighten like the notion of completely falling off the face 5 00:00:32,440 --> 00:00:36,280 Speaker 1: of the earth from the disappearance of the Roanoke Colony 6 00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:40,360 Speaker 1: in the sixteenth century in what is today North Carolina, 7 00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:45,280 Speaker 1: as covered in Season four, episode thirteen's Lost in Stormy 8 00:00:45,400 --> 00:00:50,120 Speaker 1: Visions to images of lost children emblazoned on milk cartons 9 00:00:50,200 --> 00:00:54,480 Speaker 1: during the nineteen eighties. Vanishing speaks not only to our 10 00:00:54,560 --> 00:00:59,160 Speaker 1: collective anxiety about mortality, but seems to pluck at the 11 00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:04,600 Speaker 1: very fabric of existence itself. Culturally, some of us may 12 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:08,679 Speaker 1: be consoled by notions of an afterlife, wherein death is 13 00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:12,160 Speaker 1: not treated as an end but a new beginning. But 14 00:01:12,360 --> 00:01:18,640 Speaker 1: vanishing implies non existence without closure, perhaps because its physical 15 00:01:18,680 --> 00:01:23,679 Speaker 1: intangibility seems to robbers of everything and everyone at once, 16 00:01:24,319 --> 00:01:30,640 Speaker 1: our presence, futures and pasts, and all unfulfilled potentialities. To 17 00:01:30,720 --> 00:01:35,039 Speaker 1: disappear from sight is to disappear from memory, and to 18 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:38,399 Speaker 1: disappear from memory is to be as though we never 19 00:01:38,480 --> 00:01:44,360 Speaker 1: existed at all. Conversely, for some, vanishing is an opportunity 20 00:01:44,440 --> 00:01:50,160 Speaker 1: for freedom, an antidote to today's hyperconnected world, where cutting ties, 21 00:01:50,760 --> 00:01:54,200 Speaker 1: going off grid and living on one's wits is an 22 00:01:54,240 --> 00:01:58,760 Speaker 1: alluring alternative to the rat race. Thus romance, we're told 23 00:01:59,080 --> 00:02:02,240 Speaker 1: in taking to the road, in starting it all again 24 00:02:02,680 --> 00:02:06,600 Speaker 1: without the pressures of the mundane. Such a notion might 25 00:02:06,680 --> 00:02:11,280 Speaker 1: seem appealing until we consider the consequences and the pain 26 00:02:11,480 --> 00:02:16,560 Speaker 1: we'd most likely leave in our wake. Given Island's tempestuous 27 00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:21,480 Speaker 1: history during the Troubles and beyond of enforced disappearance by 28 00:02:21,560 --> 00:02:27,960 Speaker 1: paramilitary organizations, clandestine state actors, and powerful drug gangs, the 29 00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:33,239 Speaker 1: idea of disappearance in the form of secret abduction, imprisonment, 30 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:38,160 Speaker 1: or murder cuts to the core of the concept. The 31 00:02:38,280 --> 00:02:44,160 Speaker 1: vanishing triangle, a term coined by former crime correspondent Geraldine Nyland, 32 00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:49,280 Speaker 1: refers to a number of high profile, possibly connected disappearances 33 00:02:49,320 --> 00:02:53,840 Speaker 1: in Ireland that Nyland pursued between the mid nineteen eighties 34 00:02:54,040 --> 00:02:59,320 Speaker 1: and late nineteen nineties. According to Nyland, up to fourteen 35 00:02:59,480 --> 00:03:03,720 Speaker 1: women either vanished or were murdered within one hundred kilometer 36 00:03:03,880 --> 00:03:08,520 Speaker 1: radius of islands capital Dublin. She noted a number of 37 00:03:08,600 --> 00:03:14,040 Speaker 1: eerie similarities not only of circumstances, but attributes shared by 38 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:18,800 Speaker 1: many of the women whose disappearances she investigated. The women's 39 00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:23,320 Speaker 1: ages ranged from late teens to late thirties. Each of 40 00:03:23,320 --> 00:03:28,720 Speaker 1: them disappeared inexplicably and suddenly, with no substantial clues or 41 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:33,960 Speaker 1: evidence ever being found, despite large scale searches and campaigns 42 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:38,520 Speaker 1: by the National Police Force, the Garda Shiacona. Though the 43 00:03:38,600 --> 00:03:42,560 Speaker 1: Guardee would eventually satisfy themselves that at least four of 44 00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:46,920 Speaker 1: these cases were perpetrated by people unconnected with the other ten, 45 00:03:47,360 --> 00:03:52,119 Speaker 1: questions still remain about whether a serial killer or killers 46 00:03:52,680 --> 00:03:55,680 Speaker 1: was allowed to operate in the area known as the 47 00:03:55,760 --> 00:04:00,360 Speaker 1: Vanishing Triangle for over a decade, and if ni Ellen's 48 00:04:00,360 --> 00:04:03,960 Speaker 1: accounts of the disappearances that anything to go by, the 49 00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:08,640 Speaker 1: main suspect may very well be walking free. To this day, 50 00:04:10,040 --> 00:04:23,320 Speaker 1: you're listening to Unexplained, and I'm Richard McLean Smith. It 51 00:04:23,440 --> 00:04:28,359 Speaker 1: was a typically rainy day in the affluent suburb of Sandymount, County, Dublin, 52 00:04:28,800 --> 00:04:32,440 Speaker 1: but twenty six year old Long Island native Annie McCarrick 53 00:04:32,839 --> 00:04:37,159 Speaker 1: had good reason to be feeling optimistic. Annie had spent 54 00:04:37,240 --> 00:04:39,680 Speaker 1: most of her life in New York, but fell in 55 00:04:39,720 --> 00:04:42,680 Speaker 1: love with Ireland while training to be a teacher there 56 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:46,200 Speaker 1: in the eighties. After a short spell back in the 57 00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:51,480 Speaker 1: United States studying at Stonybrook University, Annie returned to Ireland 58 00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:56,159 Speaker 1: in nineteen ninety three with plans to settle down. Something 59 00:04:56,200 --> 00:04:59,640 Speaker 1: about the pace of life she'd enjoyed during her teacher 60 00:04:59,680 --> 00:05:02,960 Speaker 1: training in Dublin had left a lasting impression on her, 61 00:05:03,880 --> 00:05:06,680 Speaker 1: but it was also the way everyone greeted each other 62 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:09,880 Speaker 1: when they passed in the street, and the close circle 63 00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:14,280 Speaker 1: of friends she'd made during her time there. Whatever it was, 64 00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:17,720 Speaker 1: Annie was excited to tell her loved ones that she'd 65 00:05:17,720 --> 00:05:20,359 Speaker 1: finally made a decision about what she was going to 66 00:05:20,440 --> 00:05:24,880 Speaker 1: do with her life. Passionate as she was about working 67 00:05:24,920 --> 00:05:27,760 Speaker 1: with the children, there was no doubt in Annie's mind 68 00:05:28,080 --> 00:05:31,520 Speaker 1: that following her ambition to become a teacher had to 69 00:05:31,560 --> 00:05:36,400 Speaker 1: happen in her adopted country. Annie's other great passion in 70 00:05:36,440 --> 00:05:41,560 Speaker 1: life was the great outdoors. In March nineteen ninety three, 71 00:05:42,120 --> 00:05:46,039 Speaker 1: Annie arranged to go hiking in the nearby Wicklow Mountains 72 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:50,560 Speaker 1: with one of her closest acquaintances. The next day, she 73 00:05:50,640 --> 00:05:54,520 Speaker 1: had plans to meet other friends for dinner, and her mother, Nancy, 74 00:05:54,920 --> 00:05:58,360 Speaker 1: was due to visit the following weekend, and so it 75 00:05:58,560 --> 00:06:03,400 Speaker 1: was that on Friday, March twenty sixth Annie woke looking 76 00:06:03,440 --> 00:06:07,279 Speaker 1: forward to taking in some crisp country air and maybe 77 00:06:07,360 --> 00:06:10,719 Speaker 1: even calling into one of the traditional Wicklow pubs for 78 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:14,360 Speaker 1: a cold pint and to listen to some traditional music. 79 00:06:14,600 --> 00:06:19,080 Speaker 1: Later that night, Annie was preparing a list of provisions 80 00:06:19,080 --> 00:06:21,960 Speaker 1: for herself when she got a call from her friend 81 00:06:22,880 --> 00:06:26,880 Speaker 1: through a bunged up nose and the occasional splutter, The friend, 82 00:06:27,279 --> 00:06:32,040 Speaker 1: clearly suffering from a cold, apologized profusely but they wouldn't 83 00:06:32,080 --> 00:06:36,880 Speaker 1: be joining Annie on the walk after all. Though disappointed, 84 00:06:37,320 --> 00:06:43,400 Speaker 1: Annie resolved to go it alone. Nonetheless, CCTV cameras tracked 85 00:06:43,440 --> 00:06:46,000 Speaker 1: Annie as she made her way from her apartment in 86 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:50,080 Speaker 1: Sandymount to a local bank, where she deposited her wages 87 00:06:50,160 --> 00:06:53,960 Speaker 1: from the cafe she worked at. From there, she went 88 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:57,320 Speaker 1: to a nearby supermarket to pick up groceries for that 89 00:06:57,520 --> 00:07:02,280 Speaker 1: night's dinner. Annieged a short time later with a bag 90 00:07:02,320 --> 00:07:06,200 Speaker 1: of groceries before heading off away from the high Street 91 00:07:06,560 --> 00:07:12,760 Speaker 1: in the direction of her apartment. That night, a near 92 00:07:12,880 --> 00:07:18,120 Speaker 1: full moon, barely glimpsed through overcast skies, rose above the 93 00:07:18,200 --> 00:07:23,400 Speaker 1: rugged heather covered terrain of the Wicklow Mountains. As the 94 00:07:23,440 --> 00:07:28,200 Speaker 1: air cooled, a light mist came down, obscuring the mountain 95 00:07:28,280 --> 00:07:37,000 Speaker 1: peaks completely. The following day, Annie's friends gathered outside her 96 00:07:37,040 --> 00:07:42,360 Speaker 1: apartment building, clutching bottles of wine. They rang the buzzer excitedly, 97 00:07:42,920 --> 00:07:45,840 Speaker 1: keen to hear about Annie's hike from the previous day. 98 00:07:46,640 --> 00:07:52,960 Speaker 1: Then they waited and waited. They checked their watches. Someone 99 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:57,320 Speaker 1: lit a cigarette. It was definitely today, wasn't it. They 100 00:07:57,360 --> 00:08:10,960 Speaker 1: wandered amongst themselves. Either way, Annie wasn't home. One of 101 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:14,720 Speaker 1: Annie's friends knew the buzzer for the landlady who lived 102 00:08:14,800 --> 00:08:18,760 Speaker 1: in the same building. When she answered, they asked if 103 00:08:18,760 --> 00:08:22,200 Speaker 1: she wouldn't mind letting them up into Annie's flat so 104 00:08:22,280 --> 00:08:24,600 Speaker 1: they could come out of the cold and wait for 105 00:08:24,640 --> 00:08:30,240 Speaker 1: her there. Moments later, they stood a little anxiously outside 106 00:08:30,280 --> 00:08:34,360 Speaker 1: Annie's flat as the landlady turned the key and pushed 107 00:08:34,360 --> 00:08:40,960 Speaker 1: open the door. Inside was dark and eerily quiet. They 108 00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:44,120 Speaker 1: flicked on the lights and made their way toward the kitchen, 109 00:08:44,480 --> 00:08:48,319 Speaker 1: where they soon spotted a bag of recently bought groceries 110 00:08:48,800 --> 00:08:52,920 Speaker 1: still unpacked, left out on the counter. She must have 111 00:08:53,120 --> 00:08:56,240 Speaker 1: just popped out for a moment, they thought, until they 112 00:08:56,280 --> 00:09:00,160 Speaker 1: found the receipt inside the bag. It was dated on 113 00:09:00,200 --> 00:09:04,480 Speaker 1: the previous day and timestamped at eleven two. A m 114 00:09:06,320 --> 00:09:10,120 Speaker 1: unsure what it all meant, Annie's friends called the police 115 00:09:10,160 --> 00:09:14,000 Speaker 1: immediately to let them know that Annie appeared to have 116 00:09:14,040 --> 00:09:18,520 Speaker 1: gone missing. It wouldn't be until the following day, however, 117 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:22,440 Speaker 1: with the young American having then been missing for almost 118 00:09:22,559 --> 00:09:27,360 Speaker 1: forty eight hours, that an official missing persons report was filed. 119 00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:32,480 Speaker 1: Over time, a picture of Annie's last known movements was 120 00:09:32,559 --> 00:09:37,680 Speaker 1: slowly pieced together. The last confirmed sighting of Annie was 121 00:09:37,720 --> 00:09:40,480 Speaker 1: the morning of the twenty sixth at her local bank. 122 00:09:41,600 --> 00:09:44,240 Speaker 1: She also made a phone call that morning from a 123 00:09:44,240 --> 00:09:47,960 Speaker 1: public phone box to her ex boyfriend's brother in the 124 00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:50,400 Speaker 1: hope of trying to get in touch with her ex, 125 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:54,040 Speaker 1: who was out at the country at the time. What 126 00:09:54,320 --> 00:10:00,640 Speaker 1: followed has only ever been considered anecdotal evidence. This conductor 127 00:10:00,880 --> 00:10:04,439 Speaker 1: claimed to have seen a woman fitting Annie's description around 128 00:10:04,480 --> 00:10:07,920 Speaker 1: three forty pm on the Friday, boarding a bus from 129 00:10:08,040 --> 00:10:13,199 Speaker 1: Dublin to Enniskery in County Wicklow, about twenty five kilometers 130 00:10:13,240 --> 00:10:18,199 Speaker 1: south of Dublin. Later that night, according to a dorman 131 00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:22,280 Speaker 1: and some others, Annie was seen at Johnny Fox's pub 132 00:10:22,600 --> 00:10:26,160 Speaker 1: in the Glen Cullen area, a good few kilometers walk 133 00:10:26,240 --> 00:10:31,240 Speaker 1: from Enniscerrey. The dorman working that night would later tell 134 00:10:31,320 --> 00:10:36,160 Speaker 1: investigators that he saw a woman meeting Annie's description with 135 00:10:36,280 --> 00:10:39,800 Speaker 1: a man whom he described as having short brown hair 136 00:10:40,360 --> 00:10:45,160 Speaker 1: and of rugby players built. The dorman remembered the interaction, 137 00:10:45,360 --> 00:10:48,840 Speaker 1: he said, because the woman's accents stood out, and the 138 00:10:48,840 --> 00:10:51,760 Speaker 1: man she was with offered to pay her cover charge 139 00:10:51,800 --> 00:10:56,559 Speaker 1: for the venue. Annie had been missing for four days 140 00:10:56,800 --> 00:11:01,320 Speaker 1: when her anguished parents, Nancy and John, arrived in Dublin 141 00:11:01,440 --> 00:11:05,760 Speaker 1: to join the search. It seemed to Nancy and Annie's 142 00:11:05,760 --> 00:11:09,840 Speaker 1: friends that the Guardy the Irish police only took the 143 00:11:09,880 --> 00:11:14,840 Speaker 1: case seriously once Annie's father arrived on the scene. They 144 00:11:14,840 --> 00:11:19,480 Speaker 1: only took men seriously at that time, said Nancy. That's 145 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:23,679 Speaker 1: just how it was back in those days. The Guardian 146 00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:27,800 Speaker 1: felt there was little reason to suspect anything suspicious had occurred. 147 00:11:28,760 --> 00:11:31,959 Speaker 1: As tragic as it was, it was beginning to appear 148 00:11:32,240 --> 00:11:35,080 Speaker 1: to them at least as though Annie had either gone 149 00:11:35,160 --> 00:11:38,640 Speaker 1: missing of her own accord, or had simply got lost 150 00:11:39,120 --> 00:11:43,960 Speaker 1: or badly injured while out walking. Frustrated by what they 151 00:11:44,040 --> 00:11:48,240 Speaker 1: saw as a lackluster response from the GUARDI, Annie's family 152 00:11:48,400 --> 00:11:52,760 Speaker 1: hired private investigator Brian McCarthy to follow up on any 153 00:11:52,800 --> 00:11:57,840 Speaker 1: potential leads that the police had missed. On McCarthy's advice, 154 00:11:58,360 --> 00:12:01,280 Speaker 1: of one hundred and fifty thousand dollar reward was put 155 00:12:01,360 --> 00:12:04,840 Speaker 1: up for any information that could solve the mystery of 156 00:12:04,880 --> 00:12:11,160 Speaker 1: Annie's disappearance. Family friend and FBI special agent Kenneth Strange 157 00:12:11,480 --> 00:12:15,720 Speaker 1: also offered to help securing resources from the US government 158 00:12:16,040 --> 00:12:21,880 Speaker 1: to open a separate stateside investigation into Annie's disappearance. However, 159 00:12:22,600 --> 00:12:39,760 Speaker 1: concrete answers remained elusive. In comparison to Annie McCarrick, friends 160 00:12:39,760 --> 00:12:44,679 Speaker 1: of twenty one year old Josephine or Jojo Dullart described 161 00:12:44,720 --> 00:12:48,880 Speaker 1: her as a somewhat shy and reserved character. Back in 162 00:12:48,920 --> 00:12:54,840 Speaker 1: November nineteen ninety five, Jojo was experiencing financial difficulties after 163 00:12:54,920 --> 00:12:59,000 Speaker 1: dropping out of her beauty therapy course in Dublin. Feeling 164 00:12:59,040 --> 00:13:02,800 Speaker 1: a little insecure about the future, she decided to return 165 00:13:02,840 --> 00:13:06,760 Speaker 1: home to the village of Callen County Kilkenny, about one 166 00:13:06,840 --> 00:13:10,280 Speaker 1: hundred and fifty kilometers south of Dublin, to stay with 167 00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:13,280 Speaker 1: her parents for a short time while she considered her 168 00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:17,720 Speaker 1: next steps. She told her family to expect her on 169 00:13:17,800 --> 00:13:23,120 Speaker 1: November ninth. At eleven thirty seven pm. On the evening 170 00:13:23,240 --> 00:13:25,840 Speaker 1: of the ninth, the phone rang in the home of 171 00:13:25,960 --> 00:13:30,600 Speaker 1: Mary Cullinant, one of JoJo's closest friends who also lived 172 00:13:30,640 --> 00:13:35,120 Speaker 1: in Callen. Mary picked up the phone to find Jojo 173 00:13:35,400 --> 00:13:38,560 Speaker 1: on the other end of the line. It isn't known 174 00:13:38,640 --> 00:13:42,960 Speaker 1: exactly why Jojo called Mary. Perhaps she didn't want to 175 00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:47,080 Speaker 1: worry her parents or disturb them if they were already asleep. 176 00:13:48,080 --> 00:13:52,000 Speaker 1: Despite being a little tired and cold, Jojo was otherwise 177 00:13:52,080 --> 00:13:56,280 Speaker 1: in good spirits, as she explained to Mary. Although she'd 178 00:13:56,320 --> 00:13:59,400 Speaker 1: missed her planned bus out of Dublin, she'd managed to 179 00:13:59,400 --> 00:14:01,559 Speaker 1: get another one on to take her as far as 180 00:14:01,679 --> 00:14:05,400 Speaker 1: Nays in County Kildare. She was just calling to let 181 00:14:05,440 --> 00:14:09,000 Speaker 1: Mary know in case anyone was worried that she was 182 00:14:09,080 --> 00:14:12,800 Speaker 1: now in Moon After securing a few lifts from strangers. 183 00:14:13,960 --> 00:14:18,280 Speaker 1: With another seventy kilometers still to go until Callan, Jojo 184 00:14:18,520 --> 00:14:21,400 Speaker 1: was just waiting in the hope of finding another ride 185 00:14:21,440 --> 00:14:25,840 Speaker 1: to get her home. Mary heard the sound of a 186 00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:29,840 Speaker 1: vehicle approaching before coming to a stop near the phone box. 187 00:14:30,640 --> 00:14:36,400 Speaker 1: Moments later, the phone line went dead. Jojo Dunnart was 188 00:14:36,520 --> 00:14:43,440 Speaker 1: never seen again. Despite JoJo's family's insistence that something untoward 189 00:14:43,560 --> 00:14:46,880 Speaker 1: had taken place, the Guardie was said to be slow 190 00:14:47,360 --> 00:14:52,800 Speaker 1: in taking her disappearance seriously. It wasn't until three days 191 00:14:52,880 --> 00:14:56,840 Speaker 1: after she went missing that they opened a formal investigation. 192 00:15:04,400 --> 00:15:07,760 Speaker 1: As the years passed, there were few developments in both 193 00:15:07,960 --> 00:15:13,720 Speaker 1: Jojo Dullard and Ani mccarricks cases. Unbeknownst to their families. However, 194 00:15:14,160 --> 00:15:18,000 Speaker 1: key figures within the Gardi Shia Khanna were starting to 195 00:15:18,160 --> 00:15:23,880 Speaker 1: hypothesize that something dark and disturbing was at play. Ever 196 00:15:23,960 --> 00:15:28,280 Speaker 1: since Special Agent Kenneth Strange of the FBI opened his 197 00:15:28,400 --> 00:15:34,320 Speaker 1: investigation into Anie McCarrick's disappearance in nineteen ninety three, resources 198 00:15:34,360 --> 00:15:39,160 Speaker 1: were shared and theories discussed between the two international police bodies. 199 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:45,160 Speaker 1: In nineteen ninety eight, GUARDI detectives secured an invite to 200 00:15:45,240 --> 00:15:52,640 Speaker 1: the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit at Quantico, Virginia for a consultation. There, 201 00:15:52,840 --> 00:15:56,640 Speaker 1: they began to develop the theory that both Jojo Dullard 202 00:15:56,680 --> 00:16:01,320 Speaker 1: and Annie had been abducted and murdered, and possibly by 203 00:16:01,360 --> 00:16:05,440 Speaker 1: the same person. They even developed a profile of the 204 00:16:05,640 --> 00:16:10,800 Speaker 1: likely assailant. The potential suspect they believed was likely to 205 00:16:10,840 --> 00:16:14,440 Speaker 1: be a married man in its thirties with children, who 206 00:16:14,440 --> 00:16:18,120 Speaker 1: had no previous run ins with the law. In short, 207 00:16:18,560 --> 00:16:22,920 Speaker 1: their perpetrator was probably someone who gave the appearance of 208 00:16:22,960 --> 00:16:26,920 Speaker 1: being a law abiding citizen, and may even have ingratiated 209 00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:31,760 Speaker 1: himself as a pillar of his local community. Ireland, it 210 00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:36,680 Speaker 1: seemed potentially at its very own serial killer on the loose. 211 00:16:38,240 --> 00:16:42,360 Speaker 1: In response to this terrifying prospect, the GUARDI set up 212 00:16:42,400 --> 00:16:47,360 Speaker 1: a dedicated task force named Operation Trace, with the express 213 00:16:47,480 --> 00:16:53,000 Speaker 1: purpose of solving any and all unresolved disappearances and homicides 214 00:16:53,400 --> 00:16:57,360 Speaker 1: in what had then become known as the Vanishing Triangle area. 215 00:16:58,480 --> 00:17:01,600 Speaker 1: They offered a ten thousand year euro reward for any 216 00:17:01,640 --> 00:17:07,000 Speaker 1: information resulting in the recovery of a body. Despite the 217 00:17:07,040 --> 00:17:11,800 Speaker 1: mood of general apprehension surrounding the Guardian investigation into the 218 00:17:11,880 --> 00:17:16,440 Speaker 1: Vanishing Triangle, nineteen ninety eight was generally seen as an 219 00:17:16,440 --> 00:17:21,840 Speaker 1: optimistic turning point for Irish society. In March of that year, 220 00:17:22,200 --> 00:17:26,760 Speaker 1: the historic Good Friday Agreement was ratified into the Irish Constitution, 221 00:17:27,359 --> 00:17:31,600 Speaker 1: effectively ending or at least quelling hundreds of years of 222 00:17:31,640 --> 00:17:36,960 Speaker 1: animosity between the Irish and British states. Northern Ireland would 223 00:17:36,960 --> 00:17:41,639 Speaker 1: have its own devolved Parliament. The Irish Republic meanwhile, was 224 00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:45,360 Speaker 1: in the nascent stages of a period of economic prosperity, 225 00:17:45,800 --> 00:17:51,920 Speaker 1: which would eventually bloom and become known as the Celtic Tiger. Then, 226 00:17:52,600 --> 00:18:05,400 Speaker 1: in July nineteen ninety eight, another young woman disappeared. Eighteen 227 00:18:05,480 --> 00:18:09,760 Speaker 1: year old student Deirdre Jacob had returned home from London, 228 00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:12,640 Speaker 1: where she was studying to spend the summer with her 229 00:18:12,680 --> 00:18:18,040 Speaker 1: parents in Newbridge, County Kildare. She just completed her first 230 00:18:18,160 --> 00:18:21,920 Speaker 1: year at Saint Mary's University and was due to return 231 00:18:21,960 --> 00:18:25,960 Speaker 1: to her accommodation in Twickenham, South London within the next 232 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:30,480 Speaker 1: few months. On the day of her disappearance, she completed 233 00:18:30,520 --> 00:18:33,680 Speaker 1: some financial admin at the local branch of her bank, 234 00:18:34,080 --> 00:18:37,040 Speaker 1: before going to the post office to complete a bank 235 00:18:37,119 --> 00:18:42,080 Speaker 1: draft in anticipation of her return to London. This was 236 00:18:42,119 --> 00:18:46,479 Speaker 1: the last known sighting of Deirdre. Sometime around three pm. 237 00:18:47,960 --> 00:18:52,520 Speaker 1: Some passing motorists said they saw Deirdre approaching her parents 238 00:18:52,680 --> 00:18:57,600 Speaker 1: driveway a short time later, but she never made it inside. 239 00:18:58,160 --> 00:19:02,000 Speaker 1: On this occasion, the guy body wasted little time and 240 00:19:02,080 --> 00:19:08,480 Speaker 1: immediately opened an investigation once again. However, they quickly reached 241 00:19:08,480 --> 00:19:16,320 Speaker 1: a dead end. Eighteen months later, one dark, cold night 242 00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:21,439 Speaker 1: in early February two thousand, two men Ken Jones and 243 00:19:21,520 --> 00:19:25,880 Speaker 1: Trevor Moody drove into the foothills of the Wicklow Mountains 244 00:19:26,080 --> 00:19:30,280 Speaker 1: to hunt for foxes. Coming up over a rise, the 245 00:19:30,359 --> 00:19:33,320 Speaker 1: headlights from their jeep picked out a car in a 246 00:19:33,400 --> 00:19:36,880 Speaker 1: lay by up ahead, and what appeared to be a 247 00:19:36,920 --> 00:19:41,359 Speaker 1: pair of legs sticking out of the boot. There was 248 00:19:41,400 --> 00:19:44,760 Speaker 1: a man there too, standing at the back of the car. 249 00:19:46,040 --> 00:19:49,560 Speaker 1: Just then a woman burst out at the boot with 250 00:19:49,720 --> 00:19:53,439 Speaker 1: what appeared to be a plastic bag stuffed in her mouth. 251 00:19:54,600 --> 00:19:58,560 Speaker 1: She felt at the ground and crawled rapidly off into 252 00:19:58,600 --> 00:20:03,639 Speaker 1: the shadows. The man, suddenly disturbed by the lights of 253 00:20:03,680 --> 00:20:07,640 Speaker 1: the jeep, darted into the car, reved up the engine, 254 00:20:08,160 --> 00:20:12,240 Speaker 1: spun it around, and tore off, but not before the 255 00:20:12,359 --> 00:20:17,439 Speaker 1: hunters saw his face. Pulling up the jeep, Jones and 256 00:20:17,520 --> 00:20:20,960 Speaker 1: Moody sprinted toward a ditch where they thought the woman 257 00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:24,640 Speaker 1: had gone. When they shone the torch into it, they 258 00:20:24,680 --> 00:20:29,439 Speaker 1: gasped in horror. The woman lay trembling, caught on a 259 00:20:29,480 --> 00:20:33,480 Speaker 1: fence of barbed wire. She was naked from the waist up, 260 00:20:34,200 --> 00:20:39,240 Speaker 1: her face and body bruised and bloodied. It's okay, they 261 00:20:39,280 --> 00:20:42,520 Speaker 1: said to her. We want to help you. We know 262 00:20:42,600 --> 00:20:47,880 Speaker 1: who that was. Four years ago, the man they saw 263 00:20:48,000 --> 00:20:51,480 Speaker 1: tearing off in his car had sexually assaulted one of 264 00:20:51,520 --> 00:20:54,760 Speaker 1: their friends in a pub not too far away. They 265 00:20:54,800 --> 00:20:59,280 Speaker 1: were sure of it. The man they believed was from 266 00:20:59,280 --> 00:21:04,280 Speaker 1: the bolting Glean about thirteen kilometers away. He was a 267 00:21:04,320 --> 00:21:10,719 Speaker 1: carpenter and his name was Larry Murphy. Jones and Moody 268 00:21:11,040 --> 00:21:14,080 Speaker 1: rescued the young woman from the ditch and drove her 269 00:21:14,119 --> 00:21:22,119 Speaker 1: immediately to bolting Glass police station. It was just after 270 00:21:22,240 --> 00:21:26,120 Speaker 1: eight a m. The following morning when two car loads 271 00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:30,800 Speaker 1: of guardie arrived at a small dormer bungalow about five 272 00:21:30,880 --> 00:21:35,560 Speaker 1: kilometers outside of bolting Glass, the home of Larry Murphy, 273 00:21:36,200 --> 00:21:41,359 Speaker 1: his heavily pregnant wife, and their two sons. Just like 274 00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:47,879 Speaker 1: the FBI profile had predicted, Murphy was eventually found guilty 275 00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:52,840 Speaker 1: of repeatedly and violently assaulting and raping a twenty six 276 00:21:52,920 --> 00:21:56,800 Speaker 1: year old woman. It was a terrifying and lengthy ordeal 277 00:21:57,240 --> 00:22:00,159 Speaker 1: that began with her abduction from a car park in 278 00:22:00,240 --> 00:22:05,239 Speaker 1: Carlo Town, about ninety kilometers southwest of Dublin and a 279 00:22:05,240 --> 00:22:09,080 Speaker 1: good twenty five kilometers from where she eventually ended up 280 00:22:09,400 --> 00:22:24,439 Speaker 1: in the foothills of the Wicklow Mountains. Larry Murphy, or 281 00:22:24,520 --> 00:22:27,520 Speaker 1: the Beast of bolting Glass, as he was dubbed by 282 00:22:27,560 --> 00:22:32,119 Speaker 1: the media, received just fifteen years in prison for his crime, 283 00:22:32,640 --> 00:22:37,280 Speaker 1: despite the seriousness of the incident. Murphy, like the men 284 00:22:37,320 --> 00:22:40,119 Speaker 1: who caught him, was also known to be a hunter, 285 00:22:40,960 --> 00:22:44,880 Speaker 1: having secured long term rights to hunt in Glen Cullen Forest, 286 00:22:45,520 --> 00:22:49,600 Speaker 1: not far from where his survivor was found. He knew 287 00:22:49,640 --> 00:22:53,720 Speaker 1: the place like the back of his hand. Given what 288 00:22:53,920 --> 00:22:57,160 Speaker 1: many considered to be the practice nature of the abduction 289 00:22:57,640 --> 00:23:01,160 Speaker 1: and the fact that Murphy had traveled almost thirty kilometers 290 00:23:01,320 --> 00:23:04,960 Speaker 1: from his home to Carlo Town before driving back to 291 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:08,199 Speaker 1: his own patch as it were, to commit the crime, 292 00:23:08,760 --> 00:23:13,320 Speaker 1: suggested to police that he warranted further investigation as a 293 00:23:13,400 --> 00:23:20,040 Speaker 1: suspect in the disappearances of Annie McCarrick, Jojo Dullart, Deirdred Jacob, 294 00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:26,800 Speaker 1: and potentially a dozen more women. During his incarceration, Murphy 295 00:23:27,040 --> 00:23:30,040 Speaker 1: was scheduled to speak to the police about several of 296 00:23:30,080 --> 00:23:34,119 Speaker 1: these disappearances, but failed to show for the interview after 297 00:23:34,200 --> 00:23:38,040 Speaker 1: his lawyer pulled him away at the last minute. Another 298 00:23:38,080 --> 00:23:42,520 Speaker 1: reason for Murphy's suspected involvement in these cases came about 299 00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:46,399 Speaker 1: after a fellow inmate of Murphy's in Port leechh prison 300 00:23:46,960 --> 00:23:50,359 Speaker 1: was heard to remark that he had enough to quote 301 00:23:50,640 --> 00:23:56,160 Speaker 1: put Murphy away for a very long time. As it happened. 302 00:23:56,640 --> 00:24:01,240 Speaker 1: In July nineteen ninety six, Murphy was working in Newbridge, 303 00:24:01,320 --> 00:24:05,560 Speaker 1: County Kildare, the place where eighteen year old student Deirdre 304 00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:12,960 Speaker 1: Jacobs disappeared from the same month. Officers reviewing CCTV footage 305 00:24:13,240 --> 00:24:16,479 Speaker 1: pulled from the post office the day Deirdre went missing 306 00:24:16,960 --> 00:24:21,360 Speaker 1: got a shock when, about nine minutes before Deirdre appears 307 00:24:21,359 --> 00:24:25,080 Speaker 1: on the tape the last known sighting of her, a 308 00:24:25,200 --> 00:24:29,440 Speaker 1: customer enters the branch who looked a lot like Murphy. 309 00:24:31,320 --> 00:24:35,080 Speaker 1: Larry Murphy was released in two thousand and nine, having 310 00:24:35,160 --> 00:24:39,000 Speaker 1: served just nine years of his fifteen year sentence for 311 00:24:39,080 --> 00:24:43,600 Speaker 1: good behavior. There was no legislation at the time that 312 00:24:43,720 --> 00:24:48,359 Speaker 1: required Murphy to register as a sex offender. When graffiti 313 00:24:48,520 --> 00:24:53,560 Speaker 1: started to appear marking him out around his hometown of Boltinglass, 314 00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:57,040 Speaker 1: he left the country to start a new life in England. 315 00:24:58,240 --> 00:25:02,640 Speaker 1: In twenty eighteen, did Drew Jacob's case was reclassified as 316 00:25:02,680 --> 00:25:06,479 Speaker 1: a murder inquiry because of some new information the Guardy 317 00:25:06,640 --> 00:25:11,040 Speaker 1: had received, including an alleged confession by Murphy to a 318 00:25:11,080 --> 00:25:16,399 Speaker 1: fellow prison inmate. Officers attempted to interview Murphy on a 319 00:25:16,480 --> 00:25:20,959 Speaker 1: voluntary basis, but failed to gain any further information about 320 00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:32,800 Speaker 1: his possible involvement in the various disappearances. If, as some 321 00:25:33,040 --> 00:25:38,000 Speaker 1: senior GUARDI and FBI investigators seemed to believe Murphy was 322 00:25:38,080 --> 00:25:42,919 Speaker 1: responsible for the disappearances of Annie McCarrick, Jojo Dullard and 323 00:25:43,080 --> 00:25:47,760 Speaker 1: Deirdre Jacob, it leaves many uncomfortable questions which have yet 324 00:25:47,800 --> 00:25:51,639 Speaker 1: to be answered. For a start, what happened at the 325 00:25:51,680 --> 00:25:55,400 Speaker 1: dozens of other women who were either murdered or disappeared 326 00:25:55,520 --> 00:25:59,800 Speaker 1: in the Vanishing Triangle over the years, to twenty five 327 00:26:00,040 --> 00:26:04,200 Speaker 1: year old Priscilla Clark and thirty nine year old Linda Cavanah, 328 00:26:04,880 --> 00:26:08,160 Speaker 1: both of whom disappeared on a third of May nineteen 329 00:26:08,240 --> 00:26:12,840 Speaker 1: eighty eight, when Murphy was twenty three years old. The 330 00:26:12,960 --> 00:26:17,160 Speaker 1: pair were last seen horse riding near Enniskerry, County Wicklow, 331 00:26:17,800 --> 00:26:21,240 Speaker 1: and though Linda's body was recovered two days later from 332 00:26:21,280 --> 00:26:25,560 Speaker 1: the River Dargle, no trace of Priscilla has ever been found. 333 00:26:26,840 --> 00:26:31,159 Speaker 1: What about twenty two year old Emelda Keenan of Mount Melick, 334 00:26:31,640 --> 00:26:34,960 Speaker 1: who vanished without a trace from her home in Waterford 335 00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:40,280 Speaker 1: City on the third of January nineteen ninety four. Immelda 336 00:26:40,400 --> 00:26:44,119 Speaker 1: was last seen by her boyfriend Mark Wall after leaving 337 00:26:44,160 --> 00:26:48,240 Speaker 1: their shared flat to go to the post office. Immelda 338 00:26:48,359 --> 00:26:52,640 Speaker 1: left their apartment at one thirty pm, walked down William 339 00:26:52,680 --> 00:26:56,760 Speaker 1: Street onto Lombard Street and was sighted for the last 340 00:26:56,800 --> 00:27:01,760 Speaker 1: time crossing a road by a friend. Was never seen again. 341 00:27:04,040 --> 00:27:08,359 Speaker 1: In Irish mythology, there is a concept known as chachron she, 342 00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:14,320 Speaker 1: known in English as fairy stray or stray sod. A 343 00:27:14,400 --> 00:27:17,840 Speaker 1: stray sod refers to a patch of ground which has 344 00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:22,880 Speaker 1: been enchanted by the she or fairy folk, ostensibly as 345 00:27:22,920 --> 00:27:27,320 Speaker 1: a way of performing mischief on the human race. A 346 00:27:27,400 --> 00:27:30,639 Speaker 1: person who finds themselves in the midst of a stray 347 00:27:30,760 --> 00:27:37,240 Speaker 1: sod will instantly become disorientated, even lost, often in surroundings 348 00:27:37,440 --> 00:27:41,560 Speaker 1: which are otherwise familiar to them. In order to break 349 00:27:41,600 --> 00:27:45,480 Speaker 1: the enchantment, a person must turn an item of clothing 350 00:27:45,640 --> 00:27:50,000 Speaker 1: inside out, thereby confounding that she who trick them in 351 00:27:50,080 --> 00:27:53,200 Speaker 1: the first place. If they want to prevent it from 352 00:27:53,280 --> 00:27:57,120 Speaker 1: happening at all, carrying a nail or salt in your 353 00:27:57,160 --> 00:28:00,960 Speaker 1: pockets is said to ward off the influence of other 354 00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:06,960 Speaker 1: worldly magic. As with most Irish fairy stories, the concept 355 00:28:07,040 --> 00:28:11,600 Speaker 1: of fairy straying is both fascinating and terrifying in equal measure, 356 00:28:12,160 --> 00:28:16,040 Speaker 1: perhaps because, as with the concept of the after life 357 00:28:16,119 --> 00:28:19,720 Speaker 1: in relation to death, it originated in the days before 358 00:28:19,800 --> 00:28:23,520 Speaker 1: modern medicine as a way of explaining the disappearing of 359 00:28:23,640 --> 00:28:29,560 Speaker 1: people who became lost or disorientated and never returned. It 360 00:28:29,600 --> 00:28:32,639 Speaker 1: can be frustrating, then, to have to face down the 361 00:28:32,720 --> 00:28:38,200 Speaker 1: same kind of inexplicable disappearances in the modern age. Because 362 00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:41,719 Speaker 1: we've come to think of ourselves as a progressive species, 363 00:28:42,080 --> 00:28:45,840 Speaker 1: always pushing at the boundaries of science and reason to 364 00:28:45,920 --> 00:28:50,600 Speaker 1: find answers to the questions which baffled our ancestors. It 365 00:28:50,720 --> 00:28:54,880 Speaker 1: is a very particular gnawing that takes hold when for 366 00:28:54,960 --> 00:29:07,360 Speaker 1: all of our sophistication, things remain unanswered. The only thing 367 00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:10,680 Speaker 1: that is certain about the victims of the so called 368 00:29:10,800 --> 00:29:15,000 Speaker 1: vanishing triangle, if they were indeed abducted and murdered by 369 00:29:15,040 --> 00:29:18,000 Speaker 1: a man, is that they will not be the last 370 00:29:18,320 --> 00:29:22,720 Speaker 1: to suffer such a horrific fate. It's been said that 371 00:29:22,840 --> 00:29:26,280 Speaker 1: back in nineteen ninety three, the Irish Gardi were too 372 00:29:26,400 --> 00:29:32,080 Speaker 1: slow to consider a sinister motive for animccarrick's disappearance, because 373 00:29:32,200 --> 00:29:38,040 Speaker 1: essentially that sort of thing just doesn't happen there. Since 374 00:29:38,120 --> 00:29:42,160 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety six, two hundred and sixty seven women are 375 00:29:42,240 --> 00:29:45,880 Speaker 1: known to have been murdered in Ireland by men, eighty 376 00:29:45,920 --> 00:29:50,280 Speaker 1: seven percent of whom knew their victims. It is a 377 00:29:50,320 --> 00:29:54,719 Speaker 1: pattern of endemic male on female violence that is in 378 00:29:54,840 --> 00:29:59,760 Speaker 1: no way restricted to Ireland. In fact, Ireland rates as 379 00:29:59,760 --> 00:30:04,760 Speaker 1: con comparatively low on the internationally recognized Women Peace and 380 00:30:04,840 --> 00:30:10,160 Speaker 1: Security Index for danger. In the UK, it has been 381 00:30:10,240 --> 00:30:14,080 Speaker 1: calculated that a woman is killed by a man every 382 00:30:14,200 --> 00:30:18,880 Speaker 1: three days, and in the US three women are murdered 383 00:30:18,920 --> 00:30:23,840 Speaker 1: by men every day. And these are just the crimes 384 00:30:23,880 --> 00:30:29,240 Speaker 1: that are solved. For the families of those like Annie McCarrick, 385 00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:35,840 Speaker 1: Jojo Dullart and Deirdre Jacob, whose fates remain unknown, it 386 00:30:35,920 --> 00:30:39,000 Speaker 1: isn't so much that their loved ones have disappeared from 387 00:30:39,040 --> 00:30:44,840 Speaker 1: the world, but that their worlds have disappeared without the 388 00:30:44,920 --> 00:30:48,920 Speaker 1: answers they so desperately crave. They live in a permanent 389 00:30:48,960 --> 00:30:54,120 Speaker 1: suspension of the natural order of things, perhaps the cases 390 00:30:54,160 --> 00:30:58,200 Speaker 1: of these missing women will remain unanswered for decades more 391 00:30:58,240 --> 00:31:03,360 Speaker 1: to come, their family forever stuck in the most unutterable limbo. 392 00:31:04,400 --> 00:31:08,960 Speaker 1: Or perhaps one day the truth will finally emerge, and 393 00:31:09,080 --> 00:31:13,560 Speaker 1: in some small but vital way, their worlds will come 394 00:31:13,600 --> 00:31:25,360 Speaker 1: back into view. This episode was written by James Connor 395 00:31:25,400 --> 00:31:30,080 Speaker 1: Patterson and Richard McLean Smith. James is a brilliant writer 396 00:31:30,200 --> 00:31:34,840 Speaker 1: and poet. His debut collection of poems, titled Bandit Country, 397 00:31:34,880 --> 00:31:38,440 Speaker 1: Exploring the hinterland between the North of Ireland and Republic, 398 00:31:38,880 --> 00:31:41,680 Speaker 1: was shortlisted for the twenty twenty two T. S. Eliott 399 00:31:41,680 --> 00:31:44,880 Speaker 1: Prize and is out now to buy. Do check it out. 400 00:31:47,080 --> 00:31:49,680 Speaker 1: Thank you as ever for listening to the show. Please 401 00:31:49,720 --> 00:31:52,320 Speaker 1: subscribe and rate it if you haven't already done so. 402 00:31:54,320 --> 00:31:58,000 Speaker 1: Unexplained will be coming to YouTube very shortly in video form, 403 00:31:58,160 --> 00:32:01,320 Speaker 1: so please watch out for future developments there. You can 404 00:32:01,360 --> 00:32:04,520 Speaker 1: subscribe to the channel at YouTube dot com. Forward slash 405 00:32:04,720 --> 00:32:07,800 Speaker 1: at Unexplained Pod. You can also now find us on 406 00:32:07,880 --> 00:32:11,880 Speaker 1: TikTok at TikTok dot com. Forward slash at Unexplained Podcast. 407 00:32:13,640 --> 00:32:17,920 Speaker 1: Unexplained is an av Club Productions podcast created by Richard 408 00:32:17,960 --> 00:32:22,120 Speaker 1: McClain smith. All other elements of the podcast, including the music, 409 00:32:22,520 --> 00:32:27,360 Speaker 1: are also produced by me Richard mcclinsmith. Unexplained. The book 410 00:32:27,400 --> 00:32:31,360 Speaker 1: and audiobook is now available to buy worldwide. 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