Tina Satchwell’s husband expresses relief over search

Richard Satchwell reiterates belief missing wife is still alive a year after disappearance

Tina Satchwell who was last seen in her home in Youghal, Co Cork, on March 20th, 2017. File photograph: Family Handout/PA Wire
Tina Satchwell who was last seen in her home in Youghal, Co Cork, on March 20th, 2017. File photograph: Family Handout/PA Wire

The husband of missing Cork woman Tina Satchwell (45) said he would spend the first anniversary of her disappearance at the house they shared in Youghal as he reiterated his belief that his wife is still alive.

"Honestly, knowing me, I'll just sit in the house and cry for the day," he told The Sunday Brunch on Today FM when asked by presenter Susan Keogh if he would be marking Tuesday, March 20th, exactly a year on since Tina disappeared.

Mr Satchwell has previously told how he returned home from a two-hour long shopping trip to Dungarvan on March 20th, 2017, to get some groceries to discover that his wife was gone from their home at Grattan Street in Youghal.

He spoke of how he found her house keys on the floor while her phone was on the table while he also said that two suitcases were missing along with €26,000 in cash but he opted not to report her disappearance for four days because he thought she might need time “to get her head straight”.

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Mr Satchwell, who is originally from the UK, but moved to his wife's home town of Fermoy more than 25 years ago, said that he had support locally if he wanted to spend the anniversary with people. "I can go into Fermoy anytime I'd like and sit down with people," he said.

He said that he had "a small sense of relief" that gardaí had not found Ms Satchwell's body during a two-week search of Mitchel's Wood in Castlemartyr which concluded on Friday.

He paid tribute to everyone who supported the search and anyone who contacted gardaí with information. “I am still hoping Tina will be found safe. I will always live in hope. I don’t want to go down the road of thinking the other way, because I wouldn’t be able to cope,” he said.

“Yes, the possibility someone hurt her is always there, but I do believe she is alive. I know Tina, everyone who knows her would say the same. She’s a fighter. You couldn’t harm Tina without walking away without at least a few scratches on your face. She’s a fighter, she always was.”

A Garda spokesman confirmed that “a number of items recovered during the course of the search at Mitchel’s Wood at Castlemartyr will now be examined to establish whether they are related to the disappearance of Tina Satchwell”.

Barry Roche

Barry Roche

Barry Roche is Southern Correspondent of The Irish Times