Mystery disappearance of 'happy-go-lucky' woman, 22, who vanished without trace

19 November 2023 , 14:34

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Concerns for Catrin Maguire who went missing from Holyhead (Image: Daily Post Wales)

Mystery still surrounds the disappearance of a "happy-go-lucky" 22-year-old woman who vanished without a trace two years ago.

The parents of Catrin Maguire have described their lives as a "groundhog day" of grief when the then-22-year-old university student with no known mental health issues went missing in Anglesey, Wales. She disappeared on Monday, November 15, 2021, and was reportedly last seen at 1.18pm walking by the RSPB South Stack cafe, which is a popular tourist attraction.

Issuing a fresh appeal today, Catrin's parents revealed to Wales Online for the first time the circumstances they believe sparked their daughter's disappearance. Catrin had been verbally abused by a woman involved in the letting of her student accommodation and her family claim this woman did not inform Catrin or her friend before they moved in that building work would be taking place in the flat above.

Catrin Maguire in an undated photo (Maguire family)

The pair, who were each paying rent of £411 a month, allegedly started their tenancy in August 2021 to find the flat ridden with mould. Gerry and Wendy claim water was coming in through a bay window and the carpet was filthy. After six buckets' worth of carpet cleaning the parents said the water coming out of it was still dark brown. Holes had been drilled in the hall ceiling. The entrance and back garden were filled with work materials while scaffolding poles meant windows could not be fully opened.

Wendy said there was so much mould that Catrin's asthma came back within 10 days after 10 years of not having it. Catrin emailed a complaint to the landlady on August 10 asking that the carpet be cleaned or replaced. Later that day the woman reportedly entered the home uninvited, went into Catrin's room, and started shouting at her. Catrin and witnesses alleged that the landlady had screamed at her. The landlady allegedly threw her own phone on the floor and stamped on it in rage before her partner dragged her out of the property.

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The day after the verbal abuse Catrin had reported the incident to police, but it was not until after her disappearance that police made a community resolution order with a letter of apology from the landlady. Catrin told her parents the force had not taken it seriously and she felt "dismissed". The internal police report would later find that although there had been difficulties arranging a meeting and "unforeseen operational commitments" it was "not acceptable" that Catrin waited more than two months to give a statement. Police also failed to interview the landlady or witnesses before Catrin went missing.

Gerry said: "We have one step in the future and one in the past. We're stuck in limbo. We've been told it's called ambiguous loss, where you don't know either way if you'll see a person again. If there's a death and a burial, there's a process. We don't have that. Until we get answers we can't move on."

When Catrin went missing she was in her third year of a health and social care course at Bangor University and preparing for a master's in the same subject at Birmingham's Newman University. She wanted a career where she could steer vulnerable youngsters away from trouble. The Saturday before Catrin went missing she joined friends for a movie night and she was due to meet up with one of those friends on the Monday to sign a tenancy agreement for the flat they had been staying in.

But Catrin never turned up and instead, she bought a return ticket that morning to Holyhead. In the early afternoon, CCTV caught Catrin walking just 150 yards from her parents' house and a shepherd sitting in a parked van said they saw her walk past the café and up the hill towards the car park.

"It's like doing a jigsaw without looking at the box," said Gerry, 52. "We believe there's a lot more to it. Somebody, somewhere knows something... You just don't go missing out of the blue."

Conor Gogarty