'We are pleading for help', missing Laois woman's family desperate for answers 32 years on

Imelda Keenan’s family vowed to continue their search for the missing Laois woman as they prepared to mark the 32nd anniversary of her disappearance in Waterford today. 

Originally from Mountmellick, Imelda was 22 years old when she was last seen on Lombard Street in Waterford city on Monday, January 3, 1994.

As he appealed for any information about, Imelda’s brother Gerry Keenan said he still has hope of finding his sister’s body and he believes there are people alive who know where she is. 

“We have had to live with this for the past three decades. We try getting on with our lives, Imelda is always the top of the agenda in conversation come Christmas or come birthdays. Imelda is always in our hearts and souls,” Gerry told the Leinster Express/Laois Live. 

“As long as I have breath in my body I will just keep on campaigning and keeping the flag flying for the family,” he said. 

He noted the Gardaí had produced a computer generated image of what Imelda may look like now if alive. “We can only remember Imelda with the photographs we have. She will always be that way,” Gerry said. 

He is deeply upset that the case hasn’t been classified as a murder investigation, something which would have increased investigative resources in the case. He has always believed Imelda was murdered. 

“Imelda would never go missing, especially around Christmas time. She would be a homebird. She was often in contact with family, send up a wreath to my dad’s grave or maybe visit Mountmellick. Definitely, this is completely out of character,” Gerry explained. 

“I have spent 32 years of my life now hoping and I still hope that her body may be found if it is only in a shallow grave. I would love to see that happening before I die myself and I would like to bring her home to bury her in Mountmellick or bury her in Waterford, just to give her a Christian burial,” said Gerry.  

Pictured above: Gerry Keenan holding a picture of his sister Imelda

He no longer holds out much hope of getting justice for Imelda but now just wants his sister’s remains returned for burial. He firmly believes there are people who know where his Imelda’s remains are and he appealed to them to contact Gardaí with that information. 

“Every day is a new day and I am hoping and praying and everytime my phone rings or the doorbell rings I am hoping it is someone there with a bit of news. Tomorrow is never too late for us, never."

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“We are pleading for help. If you have some kind of information please come forward with it, it is never too late. If they only knew the pain that we have endured for the last over three decades,” he said. 

Gerry said any information, any recollection although it mightn’t seem that important to the person who holds it, could be the missing piece the family need to complete their puzzle.  He said when someone dies a family should know where they are laid to rest and deserve to have somewhere to grieve. 

“The nearest thing we have now is the plaque just in Lombard Street(Waterford) at the bridge and that’s where we will be meeting again tomorrow for the 32nd time,” said Gerry. 

Gardaí said Imelda had moved to Waterford and was living with her boyfriend. On the day she vanished, she left her apartment at 1:30pm and walked down William Street onto Lombard Street. 

The last confirmed sighting of Imelda was at the corner of the Tower Hotel and Lombard Street, where she was seen crossing the street. Imelda was reported missing by her brother, Edward, the following day.

Despite extensive Garda investigations, there have been no further confirmed sightings of Imelda. If Imelda is still alive, she would now be 54 years old.

Garda Superintendent Gavin Hegarty said: "Imelda was known for her quiet demeanour, her love of music and her strong family ties. Despite extensive investigations spanning 32 years, the silence surrounding her fate remains unbroken. We continue to urge anyone with information or the ability to assist our investigation to come forward."

Speaking to the Leinster Express/Laois Live, Supt Hegarty said it remained an open and active missing persons case “We have maintained an open investigation into the case. We have followed a significant amount of lines of enquiry and taken multiple statements from a significant amount of people in relation to her disappearance.” 

He said Gardaí would continue to appeal for information in relation to the disappearance. 

“What we are trying to do here is bring closure for the Keenan family. We want to be able to go back to the Keenan family and tell them what happened to Imelda, whatever that is, so we have a very open mind on Imelda’s disappearance,” said Supt Hegarty.  

“There is always the potential that somebody out there has some information that they haven’t passed on to us. What we are appealing for here is that if somebody does have any information in relation to it, whatever that may be, that they come forward and let us know so that we can follow that line of enquiry and try and establish definitively what happened to Imelda.”  

Supt Hegarty said “the pain and the suffering that the Keenans are going through from not knowing is immense. I can’t even imagine what that feels like. What I would like to be able to do on behalf of An Garda Síochána is to bring closure for the family in whatever guise that takes.”

He explained that a case team has been assigned in Waterford and there are regular reviews of the disappearance. “We are really anxious to explore every avenue open to us,” he said.  

“Last year during our appeal on Crimecall TV, during that appeal we discussed that Imelda could be deceased given the passage of time and the fact that we have had no confirmed sightings of her in the intervening period. There is also the possibility that she is not deceased, so we did some timeline progression, computer generated age progression photographs just to give the public the view of what she might look like today because we are anxious to explore absolutely every line of enquiry,” said Supt Hegarty. 

A computer generated image of how Imelda might look today

“If there is anything, any information at all. Whether you think you may have seen her in the intervening period, whether you saw her that day.  Given the passage of time some people might have information they may not have thought significant at the time but let us make that decision. We may already know it but we may not know it, so the more information we have the better we can explore it to bring closure to the family,” he said.  

Anyone with information is asked to contact Gardaí at Waterford Garda Station on (051) 305 300, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda Station.