A reward of €80,000 is being offered by the Crimestoppers confidential telephone line to any members of the public who can help gardaí solve the mystery surrounding the murder or disappearance of eight women since 1987.
The privately-funded service has offered €10,000 per case to any person who supplies information which leads to a conviction in any of the cases it has chosen to feature in its latest campaign.
Crimestoppers spokeswoman Yvonne Hyland said anybody supplying information to the phone line is guaranteed confidentiality.
Among the cases are those of three women whose remains have been found and whose deaths gardaí are treating as murder. The cases of five missing women also feature.
Among the murdered women is Antoinette Smith from Kilmahudderick, Dublin. The 27-year-old was last seen alive at 3.30am on July 11th, 1987 on Westmoreland Street in Dublin's city centre.
The mother of two had just attended a David Bowie concert at Slane Castle, Co Meath. On April 3rd the following year her remains were found in a shallow grave in the Dublin Mountains. She had been strangled.
Patricia Doherty (29) from Tallaght, Dublin, was last seen leaving her home on December 23rd, 1991. Just over six months later, on June 21st, 1992, her remains were found in the same bog in the Dublin Mountains where Antoinette Smith was found.
The mother of two had been raped and strangled before being buried in a shallow grave.
On December 16th, 1993, Marie Kilmartin (36) disappeared from Portlaoise, Co Laois. Her body was found in a bog at Pims Road, about half-a-mile off the Mountmellick-Portarlington road, six months later. A concrete slab had been placed on her chest.
The Crimestoppers campaign, launched yesterday, also features the cases of five women who have gone missing in the last 12 years. They are:
Claire Boylan (36) from Terenure, Dublin, was last seen on Sunday, March 2nd, 2003. She is described as being 1.62m in height, of thin build with a pale complexion. She has short curly brown hair.
Ciara Breen (18) has been missing from her home in Batchelors Walk, Dundalk, Co Louth, since the early hours of Thursday, February 13th, 1997. She is described as being 1.65m tall, with dark brown hair.
Jo Jo Dullard (21) went missing on Thursday, November 9th, 1995 as she was about to hitch a lift from Moone, Co Kildare, to her home in Callan, Co Kilkenny. She is described as being 1.62m tall, of medium build with dark shoulder length hair.
Imelda Keenan (22) went missing on January 3rd, 1994. Originally from Mountmellick, Co Laois, she had been living in rented accommodation at Lombard Street, Waterford. She is described as being 1.6m tall, of thin build, with long brown hair. American woman Annie McCarrick has been missing from her home in Sandymount, Dublin, since March 26th, 1993. On that day she left her house to go walking in Enniskerry. She is described as being 1.72m tall.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Crimestoppers on 1800 25 00 25.
