The parents of Catrin Maguire have spoken about their "heartbreaking" wait for answers as the first anniversary of her disappearance nears. The then-22-year-old, who had no known mental health issues, went missing on Monday, November 15 last year.
Her parents Gerry and Wendy said Catrin had joined friends the previous Saturday for a movie night and socialised as normal. The Bangor University student was due to meet one of those friends in the city on the Monday to sign for a flat tenancy, but she never turned up. Instead she bought a return ticket that morning to Holyhead — the Anglesey town where her family live — and was reportedly last seen at 1.18pm walking near the RSPB South Stack Cafe.
Shortly before her disappearance Catrin had told her family of her excitement about plans for her future such as enrolling on a master's course and taking a gap year to go travelling. Gerry and Wendy described their last conversation with Catrin — six days before she went missing — as "totally positive". They told WalesOnline: "She was enjoying her new flat, she was up to date with her university coursework, had chosen her second term subjects, and was enjoying the course and having a great time. She congratulated her brother on passing his driving test that day and said that no way was he allowed to use her car."
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Catrin was very close with her parents and younger brother Ciaran. "Each Tuesday evening was set aside at 7.30pm for a catch-up with Catrin," said Gerry and Wendy. "On Tuesday November 16, 2021, instead of having our dedicated weekly chat with Catrin, at 7.30pm the phone rang and it wasn’t Catrin. It was her flatmate asking if Catrin was with us as she hadn’t seen Catrin for a couple of days and Catrin had failed to turn up for a pre-arranged signing for a new tenancy agreement... Alarm bells rang instantly as this is not normal behaviour for Catrin and we just knew something was wrong."
Gerry, 51, who runs a removals business, said it took more than six months for him and Wendy to get back to work. They have tirelessly searched for their daughter, distributing countless flyers and posters around Holyhead and Bangor as well as speaking to students at the university. "Each day since Catrin was reported missing has made day-to-day life extremely difficult for her family," they said. "The emotional toll is ongoing. Twelve months later and we still do not have any answers to those questions that were asked a year ago."
They added: "Her cat misses her and will scratch on her bedroom door to curl up with her teddy bears on the bed... We have some really good friends and family that have been with us throughout the past year supporting us during a living nightmare. Not knowing where Catrin is, who she may be with, is heartbreaking."
Catrin loved doing work experience as a teenager in a foodbank and at St Mary's primary school in Holyhead. Her passion for helping young people led her to a health and social care course at Bangor University. She was planning for a master's in the same subject at Birmingham's Newman University and a career where she could steer vulnerable youths away from trouble. Gerry described Catrin as "very caring" with a "spot-on" moral compass, adding: "She hated to see wrong done to anyone."
The student, who prioritised having a few close friends rather than hundreds of online contacts, had never been on social media. Gerry described her as a "very private person" who would hide when a camera came out but "once you got to know her she would open up".
He added: "She wanted to experience student life but she wasn't quite getting that because it was slap bang in the middle of Covid. She was a bit back and forth from Bangor to Holyhead because of lockdown, but she was enjoying university life as much as she could."
Catrin had just started her third year when she went missing. Three weeks earlier she had moved with her best friend into a flat on Hill Street, a cul-de-sac behind an Irish pub called Patrick's.
"On the Saturday night she'd been at a friend's house for a movie night," said Gerry. "It was Catrin and three friends. I believe they had a few beers and pizza. There had been a lot of spiking at nightclubs around that time, so they didn't go out that weekend."
The friends who joined Catrin that night are the last people known to have talked to her. Although Catrin and her friend had moved into the Hill Street flat, they had yet to sign a tenancy contract with the provider, First Living. They were due to finalise the paperwork at 3pm on the Monday but Catrin did not arrive at the company's office.
Her friend assumed she had gone home to her family. But when the friend contacted Catrin's family at 7.30pm the following day, it became clear she was missing. Gerry immediately called North Wales Police, who found that Catrin had bought a return train ticket from Bangor to Holyhead on the Monday morning. Gerry and Wendy were able to identify their daughter on Holyhead station's CCTV, which showed she had been there at around 11.30am. A Ring doorbell camera then caught her walking opposite Holyhead High School on South Stack Road, wearing a black duffel coat and a light-coloured handbag.
The last reported sighting of Catrin came at 1.18pm outside the cafe of the RSPB nature reserve. A shepherd sitting in a parked van said they saw her walk past the cafe, up the hill towards the car park.
Gerry added: "Catrin's course tutor said she was quiet and kept herself to herself but she was up to date with her assignments. She had passed her first two years. I'd spoken to her GP and the only medical issue she had was asthma. No flags had been raised."
Catrin is around 5ft 5ins tall with a slim build. Her parents, who have vowed never to give up on their search, are urging anyone with information to call North Wales Police on 101 quoting reference Z167766. They thanked the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, the Môn-SAR search and rescue team, and "the community of Holyhead and beyond who came to help in our hour of need". You can read more news from North Wales here.
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