Gardaí investigating the disappearance of Icelandic man Jón Jónsson in Dublin six years ago have carried out four new searches with the help of cadaver dogs.
The searches were carried out at several locations in north Dublin last month after a number of people provided information to gardaí following the airing of an RTÉ documentary podcast series on Mr Jónsson‘s disappearance.
Gardaí have also travelled to the headquarters of Europol in The Hague in the Netherlands where they met Icelandic police and formulated a strategy to step up the investigation.
This will involve gardaí travelling to Iceland in the coming weeks to interview people who may have knowledge of what happened to Mr Jónsson.
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Mr Jónsson, a father of four and taxi driver, vanished on February 9th, 2019, after leaving the Bonnington Hotel on the Swords Road in north Dublin, where he had been staying. He had come to Ireland with his fiancée for a poker tournament and short holiday in Ireland.
The missing man, who was aged 41 years at the time he vanished, left the hotel on foot at about 11am and was recorded by a security camera 200m away passing the entrance to a nursing home next to the hotel.
Beyond those images gardaí had no information about where he went and no trace of him has ever been uncovered. He had never been to Ireland before, had no friends or family here and had never gone missing before.
The Garda said the investigation has created more than “270 jobs or lines of enquiries”, taken numerous statements and reviewed hours of CCTV footage.
In 2024, investigators search part of Santry Demesne following an anonymous tip-off but found no sign of the missing man.
Last month, they returned to the park to search two further areas, including a wooded area near the lake. Investigators also searched an area near Collins Avenue and an area of wasteland in the Highfield area which had previously been searched. Nothing of evidential value was discovered.
Two of the searches were conducted due to information received by listeners to the podcast.
The Jónsson family had been campaigning for gardaí to launch a wider search of the park and its lake.
“The search has not been properly done,” David Karl Wiium, brother of Mr Jónsson said in March. “I’m not suggesting they dig the whole park up. But we want to get better answers.”
During their meeting with Icelandic police last week in the Netherlands, gardaí provided a list of people in Iceland they would like to speak to. The Icelandic police agreed to facilitate a visit by gardaí to Iceland in the near future and to provide police officers and translators to assist.
Gardaí also intend to use the visit to publicly appeal to Icelandic people with information to come forward to them. They believe there may be people with information who would feel more comfortable dealing with the gardaí rather than the Icelandic police.
[ Gardaí enlist Europol to assist in case of missing Icelandic man Jón JónssonOpens in new window ]
Mr Jónsson‘s disappearance has not been upgraded to a murder inquiry.
However, a source in Iceland told the podcast producers about a man who claimed to have killed Mr Jónsson, having intended to murder someone else. The information tallied with two other tip-offs received independently by Mr Jónsson‘s sister and stepbrother.
In response to queries, Garda headquarters declined to confirm details of the fresh searches but appealed for people with information to come forward.
“The investigation team at Santry and Ballymun continue to liaise closely with Icelandic police and the Jónsson family. Enquiries are also being conducted with Europol with regards to this investigation,” a spokesman said.
“Anyone who has any information on Jón’s disappearance or who can assist in locating him is asked to contact Ballymun Garda station on 01 6664400, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or any Garda station.”
