US lawyer says he has received ‘very promising lead’ in Annie McCarrick case

American woman went missing in Ireland 27 years ago

Annie McCarrick (26) who travelled to Ireland to study has been missing since March   1993.
Annie McCarrick (26) who travelled to Ireland to study has been missing since March 1993.

A New York-based lawyer said he has received a "very promising lead" in the search for an American woman who went missing in Ireland 27 years ago.

Annie McCarrick (26) travelled to Ireland to study and was living in an apartment at St Catherine's Court in Sandymount, Dublin, with two other friends in 1993.

She was last seen on a bus to Enniskerry on Friday March 26th of that year, and was officially declared a missing person on March 30th when her mother travelled to Ireland.

Michael Griffith, who was hired by Ms McCarrick's family in the 90s to help with the missing persons investigation, said he received an email from an Irish citizen with "a very, very promising lead".

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"We're going to investigate this lead and see whether it's credible or not. I can't go into it obviously at this time ... the individual who sent me the email was very friendly with someone who knew Annie at the time," Mr Griffith told the Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk FM on Tuesday.

“The gardaí, I don’t know whether they went into this particular lead, but we are going to go into it because it’s something, as a seasoned criminal defence lawyer, which should be looked at.”

Former FBI agent Kenneth Strange is also involved in the case and helped Annie McCarrick's mother file a complaint with the FBI at the time.

“I’ve taken a very active interest and I’ve been in touch with the gardaí. I think what we can bring to the table is a fresh set of eyes on a case that has grown stale.”

The US lawyer said he is also getting assistance from Dublin-based criminal lawyer Joe Barnes.

Ms McCarrick’s father John spent years trying to find out what happened to her but he died in 2009 before finding answers.

Shauna Bowers

Shauna Bowers

Shauna Bowers is Health Correspondent of The Irish Times