Mum refuses to give up on Amy

THE heartbroken mother and stepfather of missing Northside teen Amy Fitzpatrick have been forced to move back to Ireland because of financial worries and health issues.

Audrey Fitzpatrick and David McMahon told Northside People they were devastated to leave Spain, where they are convinced Amy still is,

“dead or alive

?.

Amy went missing four years ago at the age of 15 on New Year’s Day in Riviera del Sol in Mijas Costa.

At the time she had been living in Spain for two years with her mother and stepfather.

In the last four years, Amy’s family have spent over half a million euro on a campaign to find the missing Coolock teen.

“You can’t ever give up hope,

? Audrey told Northside People.

“It’s the only thing we have.

“The last four years have been every parent’s worst nightmare, one that we will not wake up from until she is found.

“Some parents tell me they’d die if they were in my position but the way I think of it is, if anything happened to me I wouldn’t be here for Amy if and when she is found.

?

The emotional heartbreak and not knowing what happened to her daughter has naturally taken its toll on Audrey, both mentally and physically, but she is

“staying strong for Amy’s sake

?.

Audrey and her partner David moved back to Ireland in January

“out of necessity

? but they are adamant that they will return to Spain and will continue the campaign to find Amy as best they can from here.

“It was just awful leaving Spain because we felt like we were leaving her behind,

? Audrey explained.

David revealed how returning to live in Ireland was more out of necessity than by choice.

“We moved because of health reasons with Audrey and because we literally ran out of money,

? he stated.

“We’ve always had great support in Ireland but we now feel like we are in the wrong country to find Amy.

“We must have spent anything upwards of

?¬500,000 on the campaign to find Amy.

“We invested a lot personally and lost all the properties we had in Spain as a result.

“We hired private investigators and put up massive missing person billboards in Spain. They cost

?¬2,000 a month to keep up.

?

David said they won’t give up hope or their search for Amy for as long as they’re alive.

“We just don’t know what happened to her,

? he told Northside People.

“Obviously she could have been taken or God knows what.

“We put a e1 million reward up for information that might lead us to her but nothing came of it so it’s literally the

?¬1 million question: what happened to her?

?

While David maintains that anything’s possible in relation to her safe return, in his heart he is losing hope of finding her alive.

“It was hard leaving Spain because we believe she is there – dead or alive,

? he added.

Amy was last seen on January 1, 2008, at approximately 10am when she left her friend’s house for the short walk home.

Private investigators hired to look into her case investigated a number of people at the request of family and friends and were satisfied that she did not run away from home.

Irish holidaymakers are being asked to be aware of her profile and to keep their eyes open on their travels.

At the time of her disappearance Amy had black hair (it could be dyed blonde again), blue eyes and has a pale complexion.

Anyone with information is urged to visit a dedicated webpage to find Amy www.missingamy.net or you can email Audrey Fitzpatrick directly on missingamy@live.co.uk