Missing: Jean Tighe - Portugal, July 2020
Disappearance
Wednesday 7th, September 2022
Irish woman, Jean Tighe went missing in Portugal in July 2020 and her family have been pleading for Gardaí to take over the case, alleging that the local police in Portugal are telling the family nothing.
Jean Tighe, 41 years old at the time of her disappearance vanished without a trace from the Parede resort in Portugal.
Jean's sister, Leona Tighe said of Portuguese police, "We don’t know what they are doing,", Leona followed on by saying, "We want the Irish police to take over the case.".
Leona Tighe goes on to say, "All they have told us is that they can’t find Jean,", in reference to Portuguese police, "They didn’t answer our questions".
Ms Tighe went on to say, "I do fear the worst.".
"We don’t know if something happened to her or if she is with some crowd that she can’t get away from."
"People have the right to go missing, I understand that. But if they do decide to go missing, then you also have the right to be told."
Jean was known to be a world traveller, visiting many places around the world but her sister Leona said no matter where Jean was in the world she would always be back in her home town in Cavan at Christmas time.
The last time Leona talked to her sister, Jean was on the 13th of July 2020, this was also the day Jean was last seen as she left the hostel were she had been staying.
"She was in good form and no alarm bells were ringing in my head when I spoke to her," Ms Tighe said.
"There was nothing in her tone or what she said to suggest to me that there was anything wrong."
"There was nothing out of the ordinary with her on the phone."
"She left the hostel with her handbag, which I am presuming has her phone and her back cards in it."
"She left her bag and her passport in the hostel. It was like she was going off for an hour but had intentions of coming back."
Leona went on to say, "The phone always rang when Jean had no money or needed a flight home, that was a guarantee,".
"Jean had travelled everywhere, there were very few places Jean hadn’t been. Jean had been to Australia with my mother when I lived there. She'd been to England. She'd been all over Europe. She'd been to India, she'd been to South Africa. She was well travelled."
"Jean was always doing her own thing. So we just said, 'look whatever you do, come home for Christmas'."
"She'd go off to places like India and she was there for a couple of months meditating and doing all of this. She didn’t drink or take drugs and is a vegan."
A Garda spokesman said the force was helping Portuguese police with the inquiry into Jean's disappearance.
He said, "The disappearance of Jean Tighe is being investigated by the Portuguese authorities. The disappearance of Jean Tighe was also reported to An Garda Síochána at Mountjoy and An Garda Síochána have and will continue to carry out local enquiries to assist the Portuguese authorities with this investigation."
"At all times, any information that has come to the attention of An Garda Síochána in respect of missing person Jean Tighe has been forwarded through the appropriate channels (Interpol) for the attention of the Portuguese authorities."
Gardaí continue to liaise with the family of Jean Tighe.
Jean Tighe, 41 years old at the time of her disappearance vanished without a trace from the Parede resort in Portugal.
Jean's sister, Leona Tighe said of Portuguese police, "We don’t know what they are doing,", Leona followed on by saying, "We want the Irish police to take over the case.".
Leona Tighe goes on to say, "All they have told us is that they can’t find Jean,", in reference to Portuguese police, "They didn’t answer our questions".
Ms Tighe went on to say, "I do fear the worst.".
"We don’t know if something happened to her or if she is with some crowd that she can’t get away from."
"People have the right to go missing, I understand that. But if they do decide to go missing, then you also have the right to be told."
Jean was known to be a world traveller, visiting many places around the world but her sister Leona said no matter where Jean was in the world she would always be back in her home town in Cavan at Christmas time.
The last time Leona talked to her sister, Jean was on the 13th of July 2020, this was also the day Jean was last seen as she left the hostel were she had been staying.
"She was in good form and no alarm bells were ringing in my head when I spoke to her," Ms Tighe said.
"There was nothing in her tone or what she said to suggest to me that there was anything wrong."
"There was nothing out of the ordinary with her on the phone."
"She left the hostel with her handbag, which I am presuming has her phone and her back cards in it."
"She left her bag and her passport in the hostel. It was like she was going off for an hour but had intentions of coming back."
Leona went on to say, "The phone always rang when Jean had no money or needed a flight home, that was a guarantee,".
"Jean had travelled everywhere, there were very few places Jean hadn’t been. Jean had been to Australia with my mother when I lived there. She'd been to England. She'd been all over Europe. She'd been to India, she'd been to South Africa. She was well travelled."
"Jean was always doing her own thing. So we just said, 'look whatever you do, come home for Christmas'."
"She'd go off to places like India and she was there for a couple of months meditating and doing all of this. She didn’t drink or take drugs and is a vegan."
A Garda spokesman said the force was helping Portuguese police with the inquiry into Jean's disappearance.
He said, "The disappearance of Jean Tighe is being investigated by the Portuguese authorities. The disappearance of Jean Tighe was also reported to An Garda Síochána at Mountjoy and An Garda Síochána have and will continue to carry out local enquiries to assist the Portuguese authorities with this investigation."
"At all times, any information that has come to the attention of An Garda Síochána in respect of missing person Jean Tighe has been forwarded through the appropriate channels (Interpol) for the attention of the Portuguese authorities."
Gardaí continue to liaise with the family of Jean Tighe.
