TV series recalls the disappearance of Annie McCarrick

IN March, 1993, a young American woman living in Dublin vanished without a trace. Every lead in the investigation hit a dead end, but then other women started to go missing in the same area...

That is the background to the next episode of Scannal on RTÉ1  tonight, Tuesday, April 26, at 7pm, which revisits the case of Annie McCarrick.

Annie’s family had strong link to Ireland, and she fell in love with the country when she came over to study in 1987. By 1993, the 27-year-old was living and working in Dublin and had many Irish friends.

Annie was last seen alive on Friday, March 26, 1993, as she boarded a bus for Enniskerry in the foothills of the Wicklow mountains. She was reported missing by her friends a few days later.

In Scannal, we hear from Thomas Rock, a retired Detective Garda who investigated Annie’s disappearance; Marisa Mackle, one of the many Irish people Annie worked with and befriended; as well as Kenneth Strange, a former FBI agent and McCarrick family friend, who has helped and advised the family. Journalists Caoimhe Ní Laighin, Gráinne McElwain and Elaine Loughlin also contribute.

When gardaí first investigated Annie’s disappearance, they treated it as a missing person case, as there was no crime scene and no body. One theory was she went for a walk around Enniskerry. A witness claimed to have seen her in Johnny Foxe’s pub with a man that evening. Now there are doubts she ever made it that far.

At the time, gardaí devoted huge resources to the investigation, with more than 50 officers on the case at one point. They also searched large swathes of the Wicklow and Dublin mountains, but never found a trace of Annie.

When other women started disappearing in the same area, some wondered if a serial killer was responsible.