In Ireland, nearly 9,500 people were reported as missing to the gardaí in 2019; while 99.7% of those individuals were found dead or alive, there are still those that remain missing and families that remain in limbo.
This is one of those stories.
On 9 February 2019, Jón Jónsson was seen exiting the Bonnington Hotel in Dublin by his fiancée Kristiana Guðjónsdóttir. The couple were in Dublin to attend the Dublin Poker Festival and take a short break.
That was the last time anyone would see or hear from him.
He left his clothes, passport, wallet and phone in his hotel room.
Six years after the 41-year-old poker player disappeared little is known of what happened to him. But that may be about to change.
RTÉ's Documentary on One team and RÚV, the public service broadcaster in Iceland, working with the Jónsson family, have made a six-part podcast series, Where is Jón? to crack open this cold case.
The podcast will reveal new information that has never been made public like the last text messages Mr Jónsson sent his fiancée and the first real clue into where he went the day he left the Bonnington hotel.
It will also unpack how the authorities initially handled the investigation and dig into the criminal elements lurking beneath the surface of this case.
New witnesses will come forward, and people who have never before spoken on the record to anyone, including the authorities, will break their silence to try and finally answer the question plaguing the Jónsson family: Where is Jón?
The first episode pieces together the last 48 hours before Mr Jónsson disappeared, arguably the most important time frame within any missing persons case.
To learn more, keep reading or save yourself some time and hit play on episode one now:
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The Passport
Mr Jónsson’s fiancée, Kristjana Guðjónsdóttir is the last known person to see or speak to him.
She watched as he walked away from the Bonnington Hotel on 9 February 2019, expecting him to return shortly.
He never did.
The first 48 hours when someone goes missing are the most critical for finding clues as to what may have occurred.
Ms Guðjónsdóttir relayed the final 48 hours leading up to her fiancé’s disappearance to the podcast, including giving access to the final text messages the couple shared and her personal notes from that period.
Ms Guðjónsdóttir, who was also an avid poker player, could not travel to Ireland with Mr Jónsson on the 9th because her passport mysteriously went missing from their shared safe.
What few people know is that Mr Jónsson had checked the safe the day before they were due to leave, but never said a word about a missing passport, if he noticed at all.
She only discovered the document was missing the night before the flight, and it soon became clear Mr Jónsson would go with or without her.
However, she was hesitant to travel on her own, and the incident created tension between them, particularly when she overheard a conversation between Mr Jónsson and his mother…
Ms Guðjónsdóttir did arrange for another passport to be issued and booked a flight for 9 February, but this gap in time left Mr Jónsson alone in Dublin for 24 hours.
Hurt and stressed. Really stressed, mostly. Because I haven't travelled by my own, really. So this was the stress of travelling. Stress if I can't get new passport… I was so… a little bit hurt also. I really wanted to say with him, don't go - Kristjana Guðjónsdóttir
Journey to Dublin
Mr Jonsson set off for Dublin at about 3:30am on 8 February 2019.
Despite leaving her behind, he texted Ms Guðjónsdóttir to encourage her to sort her travel documents and join him.
But her texts, read throughout the episode, indicated that emotions were still high, and she was having doubts about going on the trip at all.
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Listen: The team behind Where Is Jón talk to Claire Byrne
"You said to your mother, with no emotion, that you didn't need to worry about it. You had a passport.
"And was I supposed to go whining to you about staying with me knowing that you didn't want it at all? This is all the respect I get."
This was the atmosphere under which Mr Jónsson touched down in Ireland for the Dublin Poker Festival. When Mr Jónsson landed, he headed from the airport to the Bonnington Hotel.
Three years earlier, a shooting took place at the Bonnington Hotel, then known as the Regency, during a boxing weigh-in. The attack took the life of 33-year-old David Byrne.
Like an ominous premonition, flowers and tributes would have lined the hotel entrance, marking the anniversary when Mr Jónsson arrived.
Do you mind turning on your phone? My comment to Mom was a joke. I thought that was obvious. I told you this was only going to be one day that we would lose - Jón Jónsson, 24 hours before his disappearance.
Witness
Once the main tournament concluded, players including Mr Jónsson began playing for cash, betting hundreds if not thousands of euros a game.
The authorities confirmed via CCTV footage that he played into the early hours of the next morning, however, they did not know who he was sitting next to…
Conor, a poker player from Britain, spent six to seven hours speaking to Mr Jónsson the night before he disappeared.
He has never spoken to anyone, not even the authorities about Mr Jónsson, but gave an exclusive interview to the podcast creators.
What struck Conor about Mr Jónsson was his "imposing" physique and "massive biceps," he added that Mr Jónsson looked far bigger in the flesh than in his missing posters.
"Like, I remember him, he was a big dude, but like, you know, not fat big, but like quite big and, what's the word? Imposing, not in an intimidating or threatening way, but a big guy and like with very big arms."
At 6 foot 2 inches in height with a pale complexion and a dragon tattoo that ran from his shoulder down his left arm, this description isn’t surprising.
The poker player said Mr Jónsson was jovial, and conversation flowed, the pair chatted about Iceland and Mr Jónsson’s job as a taxi driver.
He bought him a few rounds of his chosen beverage vodka, whiskey and Red Bull, but as the night wore on he said Mr Jónsson began to lose a good deal of cash…
Despite this, Conor said he showed no signs of being frustrated or upset by his poor luck. Mr Jónsson eventually moved tables at about 3am.
He would disappear in eight hours.
"I can say like quite confidently that Jón lost a good four to five buy-ins on my table within a few hours. I did remember thinking… this could just be ignorance, I remember thinking that when he was losing quite a lot, let's say €2,500, I remember thinking that's maybe quite a lot for a taxi driver… - Conor, Poker Player
Kristiana’s Journey
Despite her upset over being left behind in Iceland, once Ms Guðjónsdóttir secured her new passport, she set sail or rather, flight to Dublin.
On her way to the airport, she said Mr Jónsson called her, but not from his phone. He was phoning from a foreign number and told her he was having trouble with his mobile.
The couple texted as Ms Guðjónsdóttir waited for her flight to depart, exchanging information about the hotel and meeting times etc.
But when Ms Guðjónsdóttir asked how his poker game had been, he evaded the question.
By the time she arrived in Dublin, she said Mr Jónsson had stopped responding to her text messages or calls. She had no idea that in 90 minutes, he would vanish.
He did not meet Ms Guðjónsdóttir in the lobby of the Bonnington Hotel as planned. Instead, she had to get a key from reception and let herself into the couple's bedroom…
I got a little bit frustrated again. He was sleeping and I, you know, saw his wallet and I looked at it and yeah, okay, no money here. And I knew he has gone playing and he was drinking - Kristiana Guðjónsdóttir
The last 30 minutes
Everything from the smell of the room to the sight of an empty wallet told Ms Guðjónsdóttir her partner had a bad night playing poker.
But she said he was half asleep when she arrived, and after a brief, tense exchange she decided to let him sleep and grabbed a cigarette instead.
But before she reached the outside of the Bonnington Hotel, she stopped for a coffee at the bar.
She could never have imagined that in that brief, seemingly insignificant few minutes, everything would change.
While she waited for her beverage, Mr Jónsson got up, dressed, and left not only their bedroom but the hotel. She told the podcast she heard his voice and her name being called as she waited, but dismissed it as she was in a foreign city.
By the time she lit her cigarette outside, she could see a tall figure "waddle" away down the main road, and she knew it was her fiancé.
What she did not know was she would never see him again.
"I can't, I can't. I decided to not call his name, but it wasn't real to me that it was him. So I go, this was windy, so I go from the corner to smoke." - Kristiana Guðjónsdóttir
If you have any knowledge or information on the disappearance of Jón Jonsson, please contact us immediately and in confidence via documentaries@rte.ie
Þú getur líka sent okkur línu á hvarerjon@ruv.is
You can also send us anonymous information or tips via a link on our website rte.ie/whereisjon
Og við tökum við nafnlausum ábendingum í gegnum hlekk á ruv.is/hvarerjon
