Esra’s family will never forget her
LAST Saturday, Berna Fidan travelled the route taken by her sister Esra’s car on the morning of February 23, 2011.
That day nine years ago, Esra Uyrun’s car was found in Bray. The 38-year-old Clondalkin resident and mother has not been seen since.
A fresh appeal has been made for anyone who may be able to help find out what happened to Esra to come forward.
Esra’s family has added speaking to psychics who have pointed them in the direction of particular areas to potentially search. Berna, who doesn’t want to reveal the location just now, said that these people have given the information with no expectation of anything in return.
‘They believe she’s buried somewhere,’ said Berna, who admitted that was a very difficult thing to hear about her sister.
Gardaí said that Esra left her home in Collinstown Grove, Clondalkin, at around 7.15 a.m. in a Grey Renault Twingo, registration 08-D-23076.
The car was found in the car park opposite the star, with Esra’s purse in the boot. It was captured on CCTV arriving in the area in the morning while the seafront was still quite. It has never been possible to establish if she was driving the car herself, or if it was another person.
Esra is described as being 5’3” in height, with dark hair and green eyes. When last seen she was wearing black leggings, white Nike trainers, and a dark top.
‘It’s hard to believe it’s been nine years,’ said Berna, who travels each year from England to speak to the gardaí, the press, and put up posters in all of the areas her sister could have been seen.
‘It feels like yesterday that I walked into the Bray People office for the first time,’ she said.
‘The gardaí have said they will look into the case again, from the beginning,’ said Berna. ‘Just in case they’ve missed anything and to satisfy themselves that they’ve done all they can. We met with them on arrival.
‘I did say that this should have been done several years ago. They said to me that it has been looked at a number of times already. The new detective in charge wants to put his mind at rest. They said they have started and it will take a few more months.’
Berna was joined by her friend Ilknur MacCormick, and the women met up with Bray woman Debbie O’Connor who has helped them each year since Esra went missing. ‘She has been with us from day one,’ said Berna. ‘And she’s always in touch. Come rain or shine she’s with us. It’s so lovely to meet such nice people.’ Despite the terrible circumstances, Berna sees the silver lining. ‘I would never have met Debbie otherwise. The circumstances are sad but I have made a lifelong friend.
They are concerned that after so much time passing, memories do fade, and any chance of finding answers decreases with each year.
‘They still won’t give us any access to CCTV,’ said Ilknur. ‘We did quiz them about that and they said that well we’ve got nine cameras and hours to look through.
‘We’re going to look through them, once we’ve looked through every single piece and if they find anything they feel might be relevant or may resemble Esra and they think it could be beneficial for us to see it, then we’ll be put in a room to look at it.’ They feel that they would be better placed to look at the entirety of the footage, but data protection prohibits that.
While there is still hope in Berna’s heart that Esra is alive, she struggles very much with the thought that she might have suffered somewhere for all these years. ‘It hurts, but you think I’d rather her be at peace than suffering in some nightmare. That would hurt more than actually finding her body.’
Anyone who can help is asked to contact Ronanstown Garda Station 01 6667700, Bray Garda Station on 01 6665300, the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111 or any Garda Station.