Jastine’s parents give emotional interview about their daughter
KILLER HENNESSY’S DEATH LEFT FAMILY WITHOUT ANSWERS
The parents of the late Jastine Valdez have appealed for privacy as they return to Ireland, in an interview with Miriam O’Callaghan on RTÉ Radio One.
Jastine (24) was abducted on an Enniskerry Road on Saturday, May 19, and murdered that day by Bray man Mark Hennessy. Hennessy was shot dead by armed gardai the following evening at Cherrywood Business Park.
Jastine’s mother and father Teresita and Danilo have returned to Ireland, after laying their daughter to rest in the Philippines.
Teresita said that Hennessy’s death did not ease her pain. Speaking last week on ‘Today with Miriam’, she said that it did not matter as Jastine was gone.
Mr and Mrs Valdez said that they would have prefered if he had lived to explain what was going through his head, and why he killed their daughter.
‘When we found out he was killed it didn’t ease the pain, it didn’t matter, Jastine was gone. We were also sad he had passed away. We felt bad that he was killed quite quickly because we wanted to find out what was running in his head. We were disappointed he was killed. We wanted to know more about why he wanted to do such a terrible thing.’
They said that they knew something terrible had happened to Jastine when she didn’t come home.
‘When she didn’t come home by around 7.30 p.m., I knew there was sort of a gut feeling in me that I knew that something was wrong, something terribly wrong had happened,’ said Teresita.
‘I was at work at the time and Danny was on his way home and I asked Danny to check where Jastine was and he said she was not home yet and I tried calling her many times but she was not picking-up.
‘I kept on collapsing when I knew something was wrong. I couldn’t remember much from the time. I just knew something had happened to her. I tried calling her many times but she wasn’t picking up. We kept calling, no answer. She always told me the time she was coming home.’
Two days later, they were told that gardai had found Jastine’s remains at Puck’s Castle in Rathmichael. ‘We couldn’t stop crying, we couldn’t eat, we just didn’t know what to do and we couldn’t believe what had happened,’ said Teresita.
They told Miriam that not knowing the reason for Jastine’s murder will stay with them forever.
Mrs Valdez said they never got to say goodbye to Jastine as she was sleeping when they left the house on the day she was kidnapped. Their last communication was a text message but they never got to say a proper goodbye.
A few weeks after Jastine was buried, her parents found a letter addressed to them in her belongings.
In it, their daughter said she did not have the words to express how much she loved them and she thanked them for helping her through the trials that she had overcome in her life.
‘To my mom and dad,’ she wrote. ‘I don’t know how to express the words I love you, right from the bottom of my heart, because words aren’t enough to let you know how much I love and care for you.
‘It’s hard for me to express but I hope this simple letter of mine is really appreciated and I just want you to know that those words attached here, I really mean it.
‘I’m so lucky that I have you as a part of my life, because of you I have overcome all the trials in my life.
‘Without you my life now would be a mess. You are always here to guide, protect and give all that I want.’
They said they were not angry with Ireland for what happened to Jastine because whatever was going on in Hennessy’s mind was only in his mind and they could not blame Ireland as the country had been good to them.
‘Saying thank you is not enough compared to what they have done to help us. We will always feel that we can never repay people for all their kindness.’
The interview with the couple was the only one they said they would be doing and they appealed for privacy as they try to rebuild their lives. ‘We want privacy, to put closure to it. We want to be left in peace,’ they said.
Jastine’s funeral took place in the Philippines in July. Her family brought her remains home to lie in repose at their Aritao home.
Gardaí have not established any link between Hennessy and any other attacks.