Gardaí investigating the murder of Antoinette Smith have renewed their appeal for “any piece of information” 39 years after she was last seen alive.
The 27-year-old mother of two went missing after attending a David Bowie concert with a friend in Slane, Co Meath, on July 11th, 1987.
The pair returned to Dublin by bus, arriving at Parnell Square at around 11pm, before attending the La Mirage nightclub on nearby Parnell Street.
Gardaí investigating the murder said the friends met two men they knew while in the club and remained with them until they left at 2am.
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The men took a taxi to Ballymun, and Smith continued to walk, moving past the Gresham Hotel on O’Connell Street towards O’Connell Bridge before disappearing.
She remained missing for nine months before her body was discovered wrapped in plastic, with rope around her neck, buried in a bog at Glendoo Mountain, off Military Road, Co Wicklow, on Easter Sunday, April 3rd, 1988.
It is understood there is no chief suspect in the investigation.
“Someone could have that little bit of information, no matter how slight it is, that could help us to crack open this case,” said Det Insp Séamus Ryan of the Wicklow Garda division.
“We never close the book on any murder investigation, whether historical or more recent. The book will always remain open.”
He said anyone assisting in the investigation would be treated in a “sensitive manner” and in “absolute confidentiality”.
One of the challenges facing the investigation is the scarcity of CCTV footage from the time she went missing, as well as the quality of forensic science at the time.
Her two children, Rachel and Lisa, who were seven and four at the time, told The Irish Times in 2022 they will never give up their search for justice.
Rachel Smith doesn’t remember her mother, but her sister Lisa does, including the last words she said to her before leaving for the concert.
“She hugged us, told us ‘I’ll see you tomorrow, be good for your daddy and I’ll bring yous home a present tomorrow if you’re good’. She told us she loved us.”
Ryan praised the “passionate” Rachel and Lisa for advocating on their mother’s behalf, noting that successfully ending the investigation would give the family closure.
The murder investigation was relaunched in 2013 by the Garda serious crime review team and the case has since been the subject of examination and Garda public appeals over several years.
The Garda has requested anyone with information to contact Bray Garda station at 01-6665300 or by the Garda confidential line on 1800-666111.
