Missing teen's family in Amber Alert petition
The aunt of a missing Dublin teenager is to present a petition calling for the implementation of a Europe wide ‘Amber Alert’ system.
Christine Kenny, whose niece Amy Fitzpatrick (16) has been missing since January 1st, will deliver the petition to the EU Commission’s office in Dublin today.
A majority of members of the European Parliament have signalled their support for the system, which would involved greater co-operation between countries when a child is reported missing, following a campaign by the parents of Madeline McCann to adopt the system across the EU’s 27 member states.
Sinn Féin MEP Mary Lou McDonald said today that implementing an EU wide alert system is essential if member states want to effectively tackle the abduction of children in Europe.
Ms McDonald urged French President Nicolas Sarkozy to prioritise the delivery of the system during the current French Presidency of the Union.
Amy Fitzpatrick was last seen leaving a friend’s house where she was babysitting in Calahonda near Mijas in southern Spain.
She lived in Donaghmede on Dublin's northside before she moved to Spain with her mother three years ago.
In April, Spanish police stepped up their search following the reported sighting of clothes Amy was wearing when she went missing. Civil guard teams with tracker dogs and backed by a helicopter combed the area for several days but failed to identify the exact spot where the clothes were believed to have been seen.
Earlier this month, Amy’s mother urged the international media and the Spanish authorities not to drop the case.
Audrey Fitzpatrick gave an interview to Spain’s EFE news agency in which she expressed her hopes that Amy will still be found.
She said she believed her daughter might be with “an older man” and probably left the country by car, despite not having her passport. She is convinced that, even though Amy may originally have “made plans” with the man, she is now being held against her will.
She asked for posters with Amy’s picture not to be taken down in case she might be recognised by people living in Spain or on holidays there. Local reports in Mijas had stated that many posters were being removed because of concerns expressed by the tourist industry.
The US Amber Alert system began in 1996 in Texas following the abduction and murder of nine-year-old Amber Hagerman.
Source irishtimes.com
Visit Mijas Costa
Christine Kenny, whose niece Amy Fitzpatrick (16) has been missing since January 1st, will deliver the petition to the EU Commission’s office in Dublin today.
A majority of members of the European Parliament have signalled their support for the system, which would involved greater co-operation between countries when a child is reported missing, following a campaign by the parents of Madeline McCann to adopt the system across the EU’s 27 member states.
Sinn Féin MEP Mary Lou McDonald said today that implementing an EU wide alert system is essential if member states want to effectively tackle the abduction of children in Europe.
Ms McDonald urged French President Nicolas Sarkozy to prioritise the delivery of the system during the current French Presidency of the Union.
Amy Fitzpatrick was last seen leaving a friend’s house where she was babysitting in Calahonda near Mijas in southern Spain.
She lived in Donaghmede on Dublin's northside before she moved to Spain with her mother three years ago.
In April, Spanish police stepped up their search following the reported sighting of clothes Amy was wearing when she went missing. Civil guard teams with tracker dogs and backed by a helicopter combed the area for several days but failed to identify the exact spot where the clothes were believed to have been seen.
Earlier this month, Amy’s mother urged the international media and the Spanish authorities not to drop the case.
Audrey Fitzpatrick gave an interview to Spain’s EFE news agency in which she expressed her hopes that Amy will still be found.
She said she believed her daughter might be with “an older man” and probably left the country by car, despite not having her passport. She is convinced that, even though Amy may originally have “made plans” with the man, she is now being held against her will.
She asked for posters with Amy’s picture not to be taken down in case she might be recognised by people living in Spain or on holidays there. Local reports in Mijas had stated that many posters were being removed because of concerns expressed by the tourist industry.
The US Amber Alert system began in 1996 in Texas following the abduction and murder of nine-year-old Amber Hagerman.
Source irishtimes.com
Visit Mijas Costa
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