Gardaí renew appeal for information on Tina Satchwell on second anniversary of her disappearance
Gardaí have issued a renewed appeal for information relating to the disappearance of Cork woman, Tina Satchwell, on the second anniversary of her disappearance, and said they have conducted over 330 lines of enquiry during their investigation.
The last reported sighting of Ms Satchwell was by her husband Richard on March 20, 2017, who said she was in their home in Grattan Street, Youghal, when he left to get some groceries.
She has not been seen since despite a number of appeals and searches.
The 47-year-old is described as 5’ 7’’, of medium build with blonde shoulder-length hair and blue eyes.
Gardaí issued a statement to renew their appeal for information: “To date, this investigation has resulted in over 330 separate lines of enquiry being conducted, including liaison with colleagues internationally and engagement with Interpol."
“An Garda Síochána, assisted by the Defence Forces, have previously conducted searches in the Youghal area and at Mitchel’s Wood, Bridgetown, Castlemartyr in connection with this investigation.
"Over 100 hours of CCTV has been viewed and in excess of 100 statements have been taken to date. Gardaí in Midleton District have been assisted by specialist Garda units including the Garda Air Support Unit, Garda Water Unit and Garda Dog Unit, the statement read.
The search of Mitchell’s Wood in March 2018 was the last public search for clues in the investigation into Ms Satchwell’s disappearance.
Gardaí had received a call from a member of the public who reported seeing activity around the time Tina disappeared in the woodland area around 20km away from Youghal, along the main Cork to Waterford road.
The 12-day operation saw approximately 60 personnel search more than 40 acres of woodland, aided by specially trained dogs while the Garda Sub Aqua Unit searched streams and rivers near the site.
Steel fencing was erected around the site, behind which operations were directed from a mobile command centre, while searches took place under spotlight.
However, the operation concluded without any finds of significance.
Some items were recovered and sent for analysis, but these examinations were merely precautionary and subsequently confirmed that no clues were uncovered in the operation.
Mr Satchwell said Tina left with suitcases and more than €26,000 in cash that the couple had from the sale of a house in Tina’s native Fermoy - but that she had left her keys and phone behind. She had no passport to use for foreign travel.
In July 2017 Mr Satchwell found suitcases in the car park of a Youghal supermarket. However, a subsequent technical examination confirmed that these did not belong to Ms Satchwell.
In August 2017, gardaí conducted searches of the Youghal harbour near the Satchwell home.
Similar searches were also conducted along section of roadside ditch on the Golf Links Road, two education centres in the area, and waste ground surrounding a nearby telephone mast.
However, these searches, along with a trawl of CCTV footage from Youghal premises, and Bus Eireann services in the town, yielded no results.
Mr Satchwell could not be reached for comment for this article, but has been critical of how he has been portrayed in some media coverage of his wife’s disappearance.
“One day my wife is going to turn back up, or she’s going to get in touch with the gardaí. One way or another, this will all come out and in time it will all prove that I did nothing wrong,” he told TV3 News in 2017.
Gardaí are appealing for anybody with information to contact Midleton Garda Station on 021 – 4621550, the Garda Confidential line 1800 666 111 or any Garda Station.
