Cowen will aid in search for missing Amy, says mother

TAOISEACH BRIAN Cowen has promised to do "all within his power" to help in the search for missing Irish teenager Amy Fitzpatrick, her mother and step-father said yesterday.

Audrey Fitzpatrick and Dave Mahon met Mr Cowen for just under an hour at Government Buildings to ask for his help in finding the 16-year-old who has been missing from her home in the south of Spain since January.

She disappeared after leaving a friend's house at about 10pm on January 1st to walk to her home in Riviera del Sol, near the village of Mijas in Andalucia.

From Dublin originally, Amy had been living in the village with her mother, stepfather and brother Dean. Dean (18) has now returned to live nearer immediate family in Dublin, said Ms Fitzpatrick. Their father, Christopher Fitzpatrick, lives in Donaghmede, Dublin.

Speaking after the meeting yesterday, she said it had been "very good" and that Mr Cowen had promised to "do all within his power to help find Amy".

"Basically he's the boss of the country. He has more contacts than us and more contacts with people who speak Spanish. I'm sure he will do what he can."

The police in Spain had been "very straight", said Ms Fitzpatrick. "Things haven't changed. She didn't run away and there's another explanation, whether she's under the influence of someone else. They have never put it down that she ran away. They dismissed that idea very early. She's a missing person. But they have nothing to go on, no evidence. They can't work miracles."

She would not go into detail about the meeting with the Taoiseach but said: "Every single thing we asked him for he said he'd do his best. We didn't ask for financial help. You can't put a price on her."

On alleged sightings of her daughter in France, Morocco, England and Mexico, Ms Fitzpatrick said she believed the sincerity of those reporting them and that they had been checked out.

"If you look at teenagers they are all very similar. All the alleged sightings have been followed up."

She said she and her partner had already travelled to Tenerife to publicise Amy's disappearance and planned to visit other parts of Europe to the same end.

"We play it day by day, hour by hour. We think of her every day, day and night, every single day. We're always hopeful. She's out there somewhere. Maybe at this stage she's afraid to come back it's gone so big. If she's out there and even if she never wants to come back or to talk to me it's okay. As long as she lets me know she's okay."