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Nicky Ryab/TheJournal.ie

Bray locals in show of support as missing woman's family can't travel from UK for 10th anniversary

Berna Fidan has travelled here from the UK every year to put up posters and raise awareness of her sister’s case.

THE COMMUNITY OF Bray in Co Wicklow has rallied around the family of missing woman Esra Uyrun as they cannot travel to Ireland this year to raise awareness of her case, ten years on from her disappearance.

The 32-year-old mother-of-one went missing on the morning of 23 February 2011 after leaving her home in Clondalkin. Her car was later found in a car park at Bray strand. 

Her sister, Berna Fidan, has travelled to Ireland from her home in the UK frequently over the ten years.

On each anniversary of Esra’s disappearance she has, along with other family members and friends of her missing sister, placed posters along the promenade in the hope that they will encourage someone to get in touch with information that will help progress the case. 

Due to Covid-19 restrictions, Fidan has not travelled to Ireland for the anniversary this year.

“I’m just devastated I couldn’t come over. Of all the years, to not be able to make it over for the tenth year is really hard,” she told TheJournal.ie. “I feel so heartbroken. Every year I feel like I need to be there.”

Fidan said travelling to Ireland and being proactive by putting up posters and doing media interviews had helped her each year to get through the days around the anniversary.

“It kept me busy and at the moment I haven’t got anything to keep me busy, so I’m just pacing the room and getting agitated and I don’t know what to do with myself,” she said.

She said a local Bray woman this year offered to put up posters for her and when she uploaded a poster to a Bray Facebook group others also offered to help. 

“One woman said on Facebook she was going to put a candle on her doorstep for Esra as well, it’s just lovely,” Fidan said.

esra poster Locals in Bray have printed out this poster to hang around the promenade.

“I can’t thank the Bray community enough. Quite a few people on the Facebook page volunteered to put up posters for me. The local woman, Debbie, and her two friends did the seafront on Sunday and someone who lives in Clondalkin will put some up too.

“I’m so grateful and I just can’t thank them enough.”

Unanswered questions

Esra left her home between 7.20am and 7.30am to go buy some milk on 23 February 2011 and was due to return shortly because her husband needed their car to get to work.

Her number plate was recorded at the Power City roundabout in Clondalkin, which was just minutes from her house, just before 8am.

Fidan says the large gap in time for what would usually be a less than five minute drive is troubling.

“What happened to her in between her house and that roundabout that it took her so long to get there?”

CCTV captured her car coming down Bray strand, driving erratically and having a near collision with a silver Skoda Octavia before it parked up by 8.40am. The driver of this car has never come forward.

The missing woman’s car, a a silver Renault Twingo (08 D 23067), was found in a car park along the Bray promenade.

Footage that has been shared in previous appeals shows a woman moving up towards Bray head. She stops a number of times, looking back, before walking on. Gardaí have said they have not found footage to show this woman walking back this way.

This footage was captured at around 10am and the family does not believe this woman is Esra.

They have said she was taller and slimmer than the woman in the footage and have again questioned the gap in time from Esra parking up in Bray, which was around an hour and a half earlier.

Gardaí have told the family that they believe Esra died by suicide in Bray that day. The last signal from her phone was on Bray Head.

Her sister said the family does not believe she took her own life as her mother was due to arrive in Dublin for a month-long visit, and they had made a number of plans for the trip before Esra went missing.

‘Going around in circles’

Fidan said she never imagined, when her sister first went missing, that she would still be searching for answers ten years on.

“At the very beginning when I flew to Ireland I had a return ticket for the following Monday. I was thinking I was just going to find her, pick her up and bring her home again,” she said.

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“Ten years later we still have no idea what happened to her and it feels like we are just going around in circles.”

Fidan is asking anyone who knew Esra and who spoke to her in the weeks before she disappeared to reach out to her

“Just in case we missed something. I am clutching at straws now, I really am,” she said.

“It just upsets me so much that we’re ten years down the line and we’re no closer to finding out what happened to her. ”

Esra is described as 5’3” in height, with dark hair and green eyes. When last seen she was wearing black leggings, white Nike trainers, and a dark top.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Ronanstown Garda Station on 01 666 7700, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any garda station.

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21 Comments
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    Mute Paul Cunningham
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    Feb 23rd 2021, 12:52 AM

    @Anthony Edward Healy: Trevor Deely is still considered relevant after double the amount of time missing, and in general unsolved missing persons cases do tend to be seen as relevant on anniversaries. The rag papers still pull leads out from their backsides year after year like it was Mark Hennessy or Graham Dwyer or some other person around the area at the time. She shouldn’t be here, but that doesn’t mean we can’t spread awareness around to help.

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    Mute Paul Gorry
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    Feb 23rd 2021, 2:01 AM

    @Anthony Edward Healy: absolutely worst comment ive read in a long time Anthony. So a family looking for a missing person even after 10 years is not relevant in you’re eyes. And buck of with the funeral thing as well. I was at my own mother’s funeral Last March in these circumstances. Life goes on covid or no covid .

    152
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    Mute Paul Somers
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    Feb 23rd 2021, 5:15 AM

    Just lit a candle for Ersa, it’s in the window and it will shine bright in hope

    123
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    Mute D.B
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    Feb 23rd 2021, 12:28 AM

    one of the strangest cases ever…..

    117
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    Mute Jacqui Curtis-owens
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    Feb 23rd 2021, 6:39 AM

    Living a nightmare..we could only imagine what her family are going through….very sad…

    84
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    Mute EillieEs
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    Feb 23rd 2021, 3:23 AM

    @Anthony Edward Healy: after what length of time does someone’s disappearance be one irrelevant?

    75
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    Mute Padraig O'Shea
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    Feb 23rd 2021, 3:52 AM

    Anthony healy.. come back to me when one of ur daughters or son goes missing… and see what ur attitude is then.. people like u are s@um

    108
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    Mute Vonvonic
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    Feb 23rd 2021, 1:09 AM

    @Anthony Edward Healy: I’d kind of agree but I think thay what’s important here is the sister’s efforts to keep the story relevant.

    59
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    Mute Kevin O'Brien
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    Feb 23rd 2021, 2:01 AM

    @Anthony Edward Healy: God forbid, if it was a member of your family, would you be saying it’s not a relevant story. Would you not be looking for answers? Would you not want it on the papers, in the news & on platforms like this? I’m very sure you would! What a ridiculous statement to make.

    128
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    Mute Padraig O'Shea
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    Feb 23rd 2021, 3:48 AM

    @Anthony Edward Healy: come back to me when one of ur daughter’s or son goes missing.. see what ur attitude is then.. people like u make make me $$$

    69
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    Mute postmanbill
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    Feb 23rd 2021, 6:33 AM

    @Anthony Edward Healy: we all know about covid and the problems familys have with funerals etc. But for you to question raising this issue 10 years on is very cold. To put it simply if it was your family member missing how would you feel.

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    Mute Lydia McLoughlin
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    Feb 23rd 2021, 7:47 AM

    This is a very sad and horrible situation and my heart goes out to this family. I can only imagine the pain of not knowing, but this whole Covid situation has all plans turned upside down. Its not a time for travelling or mingling with others even if it is to them essential travel. We all have our essential reasons for doing things. Perhaps Bray residents might be able to post these around Bray on her behalf and raise awareness on this occasion.

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    Mute EillieEs
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    Feb 23rd 2021, 12:22 PM

    @Lydia McLoughlin: it’s in the article, the sister didn’t travel because of Covid and locals put up posters.

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    Mute Padraig O'Shea
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    Feb 23rd 2021, 3:50 AM

    @Anthony Edward Healy: ur s@um

    42
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    Mute Marie Broomfield
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    Feb 23rd 2021, 7:29 AM

    @Anthony Edward Healy: I hope you know by now that there is something seriously wrong with your attitude. You expected a backlash so you know it’s not ok but i doubt you know what so you seriously need to take a look at yourself, actually scrap that, it’s looking at yourself too much that is your problem. Just know you made a horrible statement, take it back.

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    Mute Godknows
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    Feb 23rd 2021, 12:33 AM

    Staying in Uk

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    Mute Pat O'Brien
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    Feb 23rd 2021, 9:01 AM

    Harrowing to go through this and very hard to believe she would do that just before the arrival of her mother for a month. Thinking of you at this time.

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    Mute Tom Ripley
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    Feb 23rd 2021, 9:20 AM

    @Pat O’Brien: when people make up their minds about doing something logic goes out the window. Suicides and mental illness can be very bizarre. No warning sometimes.

    It’s very tragic also that her body was never recovered but at this stage won’t be either. Burial at sea isn’t the worst

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    Mute EillieEs
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    Feb 23rd 2021, 12:24 PM

    @Tom Ripley: burial at sea, if that’s the case, has been horrific for the family.

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    Mute Trevor croft
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    Feb 23rd 2021, 5:49 AM

    @Anthony Edward Healy: I was gona call ye a pri*k, but then I changed my mind.

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    Mute Bananaquit
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    Feb 23rd 2021, 4:04 PM

    I hope someone comes forward with new information. There doesn’t seem to be much hope that she’s still alive but her family need to know what happened to her. To bear the questions of what happened to a loved one plus the grief of their absence is unimaginable.

    7
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