Imelda Keenan disappeared from Waterford three decades ago, her family are still searching
Imelda Keenan who disappeared from Waterford City in 1994
Imelda Keenan fell in love with Waterford City.
She was enchanted by the seaside and wanted to settle down, have children and work in IT.
But as her brother Gerry Keenan said when he sat down to speak to the Waterford News and Star this week, “it wasn’t to be.”
Thirty years ago, in January 1994, when she was 22 years old, Imelda disappeared.
Her family have been searching for information ever since.
Every Christmas, her brother makes a new appeal for information in the hopes of finding her.
“I make a fresh appeal to the people of Waterford that someone out there has that vital piece of information. There might be two or three people hiding a very dark secret, and all we want is to be told in some form or other exactly where our loved one is buried.
“She may be in a shallow grave, and that is not the way. We want our loved one home and to give her a Christian burial with my parents in County Laois and my brother, who is buried in a cemetery in Waterford,” said Gerry.
The Keenan family are originally from Mountmellick in Co Laois.
Her brother Gerry settled in Waterford in the 1970s, and by the late 80s, Imelda had followed in his footsteps.
“She wanted to come down. When she saw Waterford, she said, ‘Oh my God, this place is so beautiful’ with the seaside a stone’s throw away from the city. She couldn’t believe all this at her front door,” said Gerry.
Mr Keenan said he spoke with Imelda shortly before she disappeared, and she was working part-time “in computers.”
“That was what she wanted to do and she wanted to stay in Waterford. She fell in love with Waterford City, but it wasn’t to be, and that is heartbreaking for the family," said Gerry.
Imelda met Mark Wall. The pair got engaged and lived in an apartment on William Street.
When Imelda disappeared, it was her fiancé who informed her family she was missing.
He told them she had gone to collect her social welfare payment but had not returned.
The following day, Edward Keenan reported his sister missing.
In the original report in this paper, in 1994, Imelda was last seen on Lombard Street, near the Tower Hotel, on January 3.
A secretary, who Imelda was friends with is reported to have seen her.
She was described as 5’3, slim, with long, straight brown hair and wearing leopard print skin-ski pants, a white jumper, a denim jacket and black shoes.
The report says she was going to the post office to collect a social welfare payment and would have had her card on her for ID.
It also said it was unusual for her to be missing for a long time.
However, the Keenan family believe Imelda may have disappeared earlier and that she was murdered.
“The Keenan family knew deep down and still know that this case is a murder case.
“We think these dates are misled. We were completely misled with information, and that gives us more doubt that this case is a missing case,” said Gerry.
Gardaí at the time, circulated her picture and an appeal for information to local and national papers.
A few years later, Garda Operation Trace examined her case, but Imelda was never found.
Today, there is a memorial plaque to Imelda on William Street near where she was last seen.
“Christmas is a very sad time for the Keenan family, and as we get older, we think the pain is more severe. The pain has never gone away. We think about Imelda 24/7. I am a regular visitor. I go out to her plaque every day on William Street. That is the nearest I think I can get to a headstone.
“It gives me a tower of strength to go down there and say a few prayers and a little bit of strength to carry on my day-to-day duties. We will never give up as a family searching for our loved one,” said Gerry.
Gerry said that in October, the Gardai promised his family that Imelda’s case was still active and there is a team in Dublin reviewing the matter.
The family hope that if the Gardaí were to open a murder case, it will allow further inquiries to be made and Imelda might be found.
“We think our sister deserves this. The family deserve this. Young girls that went missing in the 1990s around the same time, most of their families got their cases pushed over the line for a murder case, and I don’t see why the Keenan family should be left behind,” said Gerry.
He also appealed to anyone who might be scared to come forward.
He emphasised that his family do not want revenge, but to give Imelda a proper burial.
“They are who we want to talk to. They don’t have to talk directly to us. They can talk to the Gardaí by text or phone or leave a message, write a note. They don’t have to leave their names, but even that little bit of vital information.
“It is never too late. Twenty years down the road, 30 years down the road, it could be the information we need. The smallest bit of vital information. People might think it’s not important and then it could be very important to us,” said Gerry.
If anyone does have information, the Waterford Gardaí can be contacted at (051) 305 300.
Last Wednesday, December 4, was National Missing Persons Day and Imelda's niece Gina Kerry gave a speech at Croke Park in front of 300 people, most of whom are searching for their own loved ones.
“Most of those people, probably all of those people, are in the same boat as we are and all I suppose, all we are looking for is closure.
"That is the hardest thing, to get is closure, and if CCTV and mobile phones had been around in 1994, I don’t think we would be having this conversation," said Gerry.
Despite his sadness, Gerry's face lights up when he remembers his sister.
He remembers that she was beautiful, happy and bright.
Gerry remembers Imelda as a teenager who visited Waterford and dreamed of making the city her home.
He remembers her coming to Waterford for her final year in school and that she was obsessed with computers and two-way radios.
"But God, if she was still around at 52, I would love to have seen her with a family and kids running around her," he said.
Gerry went on to comment: "To meet my kids because they would all be first cousins, and it didn’t happen, and it wasn’t meant to be, but we pray every day we will get a bit of news and that tomorrow will be a better day than today, or think I will take the Keenan family out of their pain and give them that small bit of vital information."
