Family calls for review of Jean’s case

Last Sunday (July 13) marked the fifth anniversary of missing Munterconnacht woman Jean Tighe.

Speaking to the Celt, her devastated sister Leona Tighe described how the family have received little update on the case. On July 13, Jean disappeared while staying in a Portugese resort and the family have not heard from her since. They are now calling for Portugese police to check all the mortuaries in the country for Jean’s body. From the beginning, the family believe their have been failings in the investigations and search for Jean, and they are now asking for a full review on the case.

“I don’t know whether Jean is lying over there or not,” her sister Leona said, sharing her fears that her dear sister Jean may be lying unidentified in a Portuguese morgue.

The idea makes her feel “awful” and “very upset” but she expects that this should be part of the investigation carried out by the police over there.

“I would expect that to be part of the investigation and the search for Jean, I would expect that to be a formality.”

Leona said the Portuguese police “cannot say with certainty” or “provide a report” detailing the morgues in Portugal, those that have been checked and contact details for those in charge of the mortuary.

“It’s not an unreasonable request, I can’t believe that this is where I’m at still.”

Asked if she is fearing the worst, Leona replied “of course”.

“I’m dealing with a lot of uncertainty, fearing the worst, I’m preparing for the worst and I’m hoping for the best,” she stated.

In the most recent update on the case, the sister received an update from the Portuguese police on June 17 via a WhatsApp message stating “we have received some information from Ireland and we are currently analysing the new data”.

Two weeks later, Leona asked for a “more detailed update on the findings” or “any conclusions drawn from the analysis so far”. However, she has had no response to date, nor does she know what information was sent over.

Leona believes the update was pre-emptive, “because they [the Portuguese police] know the anniversary is coming up”.

“Plus the fact I am always on to them,” Leona continued, added she believes that more could and should be done.

“It’s a disappearance, Jean abruptly disappeared without trace. Something happened to her and we need the answers. They’re the investigating police and I’m asking normal, reasonable questions.”

Leona described her sister as somebody who was “very independent” who had travelled “all around the world” up until her disappearance and was “well able to manage herself”. Growing up in a family business; a pub and a shop, Leona she was “very sociable”.

“She’s well able to hold her own and talk to people... She’s a lovely girl, very good natured, a really kind person, a huge amount of integrity, good fun,” listed her worried sister.

Jean was visiting Parede, a charming town with beautiful beaches, bars and restaurants. Although it’s not described as a typical tourist hotspot, it is about 20km from Lisbon where those looking for a quieter experience can go. She had been staying in the Help Yourself Hostel, where hostel staff saw her leave the vicinity that day.

“She was expected back that night,” she said, describing how Jean had paid to stay one more night.

“She never returned to the hostel.”

The following day, July 14, the staff contacted the police to say that one of their guests had not returned, despite paying for the room. Jean was due to travel home to Ireland the following day, which the family later found out via their own investigations.

“They contacted the police on the Thursday of that week as well. The police in Portugal were contacted twice, we were never informed. That seems to me that they didn’t do that investigation properly to begin with.”

“Nobody contacted us,” Leona fumed.

“They were expecting her to return and she didn’t.”

The morning Jean went missing, Leona had missed a call from her sister however she “wasn’t a bit worried” as she saw her on Instagram and saw messages after that.

“Apparently somebody else had her phone and her SIM and it was never really investigated either. How come that person had her phone and her SIM and access to her social media?”

It was when Jean didn’t return home for Christmas that her family realised something wasn’t right. A seasoned tourist, “Jean always comes home for Christmas and New Year” however this year she “didn’t come home” and the family “weren’t hearing from her”.

“We started searching around for her friends and waiting on people to get back to us and she just didn’t arrive home. She didn’t appear in Dublin.

“Before that I wasn’t worried because there was activity on her bank account, there was activity on her social media. I thought she was going to stay on and didn’t want us saying to her ‘the pandemic is on, you better come home.’”

“We did not know until we reported Jean missing in Ireland...

“The Portuguese police say they contacted the gardaí, the gardaí said they didn’t, but nobody contacted us.”

It was three years before Jean was put on a missing persons’ list, more ground that was “lost” according to her sister.

“Jean could be out there, at the end of the day she wasn’t put up on a missing person list for three years.”

At this stage, now over five years since Jean disappeared, Leona asked for a full review on her sister’s case.

“I think that they need to go back to the very beginning and start again and review the whole case from start to finish.

“Whatever mistakes or whatever they didn’t do to begin with, do it now, correct your errors,” she urged.

“Do a thorough review and analysis and just ask the question, what happened here?”

She called for them to interview the others who were staying in the hostel at the time.

“They never interviewed those people, they didn’t get the names of people who stayed there,” she claimed.

“Jean’s case is not closed, it’s still under investigation and sometimes you need to go back to the start.

“I just don’t believe that people disappear without a trace.”

In response to a query from The Anglo-Celt, outlining that the family are not satisfied with investigations to date and that they are requesting a full review, communications department for the Portugese Judicial Police stated: “The Polícia Judiciária informs that the investigation continues in close collaboration with the Irish authorities.

A garda spokesperson stated: “An Garda Síochána does not provide commentary to media in respect of investigations being conducted in other jurisdictions.”

However they confirmed that “all information held by An Garda Síochána has been forwarded to Portuguese authorities.”

“A family liaison officer has been appointed by Portuguese authorities and this is now the agreed point of contact with the family of Jean Tighe.

“In keeping with agreed protocol An Garda Síochána remains in a position to assist Portuguese Authorities and the family of Jean Tighe upon request,” they stated.

Meanwhile, asked for an update on Jean’s case and if they would assist the family in their request for a full review, a spokesperson from the Department of Foreign affairs stated that they are “aware of this case” and are “providing consular assistance”.

“As with all consular cases, the Department does not comment on the details of individual cases.”