'She deserves a Christian burial' - family of Mayo woman who disappeared 25 years ago seeks closure

THERE is no day that Patrick Collins doesn't think about his sister Sandra. He was 13 years young when she disappeared.
“I feel sad and helpless. Sandra's out there and I can't go visit her, I'm very heartbroken,” Patrick admits, speaking to The Mayo News on the 25th anniversary of Sandra's sudden disappearance.

“I'm very upset, that my sister's body is out there. There's nothing I can do. I can't go and visit her. But I'm also filled with hope. Hope that one day soon, hopefully I'll get her back. And I do believe that.” 

DISAPPEARANCE

Sandra was 28 years old when she was last seen alive in a Killala takeaway. On the evening of December 4, 2000, she ordered dinner which was enough to feed two people and then left the eatery never to be seen by anyone else.

That day in the morning, she had received news from her doctor. She was told that she was pregnant. Afterwards, she spent most of the day around a public phone booth, making and receiving calls.

AFTERMATH

Sandra's brother Patrick remembers the last time he saw her. It was the evening of December 3. She was living with her aunt in Killala at the time.

“She went to the town to buy our other sister, Bridie, a birthday card. And she wrote the card in our house and she left it at home for my mum and dad to give to Bridie.”

But it was Sandra's birthday coming up as well, on December 14.

“So, then, my mum said to her, Sandra, take your birthday cards now, because we've written them as well as Bridie's. We've done them all together. But Sandra said, 'I'll see you next week anyway'.” That was the last time they saw Sandra Collins alive.

COURT TRIAL

She was reported missing by her family on the evening of December 5. It was very difficult time for the family, because they had never had any issues or any dealings with the Guards up until this.

“It was quite traumatic for young kids to be questioned," Patrick Collins recalls. “And then the days just seemed to turn into weeks and the weeks turned into months and the months just turned into years. And now it's decades."

It did come to a trial though. In 2014, a local man was charged with Sandra's murder. Many details surface. This man claimed he had a sexual relationship with her.

He also claimed she demanded IRP£1,000 from him just hours before her disappearance.

The jury learned during the trial, that the pink fleece Ms Collins was wearing on the night she disappeared was discovered five days later on Killala pier.

Included in the pocket of the fleece were two pieces of paper, one of which contained the defendant's mobile number. The other contained two telephone numbers of abortion clinics in the UK.

Eventually, the man was acquitted. The judge ruled that there was not sufficient evidence for a jury to find him guilty beyond reasonable doubt, and directed the jury to find him not guilty.

FIGHT FOR PEACE

But for the family it's never been about justice. Every year they renew their appeal for information. They haven't given up on Sandra.

“We're doing it because we love Sandra deeply. She was a very kind person. She had a very difficult life but she was such a kind and decent person that the least she deserves is a Christian burial. Nobody should decide for anybody when they're going to die. Nobody should be murdered. To be murdered and to be dumped, left in a bog or God knows where. It's even  more insult to injury.”

The whole family are stuck in limbo. They cannot even begin the grieving process. Her brother Patrick describes the situation as being a whirlwind, like being in a washing machine.

“You spend your whole entire youth being tormented by nightmares of what happened and what could be. I've dreamt of what could have happened.”

Every year on the evening of Sandra's disappearance, the family decorate their house with Christmas lights. It all started in 2006.

"My Dad wanted to do something to keep his mind occupied. My mum had just died two years before that. He kind of decorated one little outside bush with one set of lights. And then he said, Oh, that looks really nice. And it just grew.

"Every year on the December 4, he would put them on and he would say: 'Sandra, the house is lit up. Hopefully you can see it from heaven and it'll light your way home.'"

The family raises money for charity every year. This year it's for the Mayo branch of Down Syndrome Ireland and Autism. Nine years ago the dad died as well but the family keeps the tradition alive.

The Christmas lights at the Collins family home

'I STILL FEEL HER HAND'

“Sandra loved animals,” remembers Patrick. “She was a really big fanatic about animals, every animal from from the biggest thing to the smallest thing. She loved the bones of every animal gone. Even spiders, she would say, 'don't kill it, don't kill it. You've got to put it outside'.”

Patrick remembers days out in Killala with his 15 year older sister Sandra, and she would get Mr Freezes for him. But one of the most lasting memories Patrick holds dear is when they were walking out onto the road as kids, when they were small kids:
“And I can remember, I can still remember holding her hand. I can still remember the feeling of my hand in her hand.”

"We're doing it because we love Sandra deeply," says her brother Patrick

Taking a photo after our interview, we are standing on the bridge in Crossmolina. A funeral party passes. The hearse is followed by a dozen cars. Patrick Collins stands still, crosses himself. “That's what I want,” he says, pointing the finger at the hearse, after it had rolled further down the bridge toward the cemetery.

Patrick is young, still only 38. But for his parents, it'll be too late, they were never able to grieve.

"You never know" he says, regarding the renewed appeal. “The only time we can move on is when she's in St Tiernan's cemetery in Crossmolina. And then the lights can mean something different.”

An Garda Síochána ask anyone who has some information regarding Sandra Collins' disappearance or whereabouts to contact them. Call Ballina Garda Station: (096) 20560

Next: West Mayo town alight with Christmas cheer as special guest turns on lights