Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy famously remarked: "It has been said, 'time heals all wounds.' I do not agree. The wounds remain. In time, the mind, protecting its sanity, covers them with scar tissue and the pain lessens. But it is never gone."
The question is, how long does it take the mind to build that protective tissue? Especially when you are forced to relive your biggest trauma every day.
On 9 February 2019, Icelandic poker player Jón Jónsson left the Bonnington Hotel on the Swords road in Dublin. He had been attending the Dublin Poker Festival with his partner Kristiana Guðjónsdóttir.
CCTV footage showed him passing the entrance to Highfield Hospital, heading towards Collins Avenue junction.
After that, he just disappeared, and six years later, his family has no further information about his whereabouts.
RTÉ and RÚV, the public service broadcaster in Iceland, have worked with the Jónsson family to create Where is Jón? a podcast series seeking answers, that ultimately wants to bring Mr Jónsson home.
From policing pitfalls to anonymous letters and potential murder suspects, a lot can be uncovered in a few episodes.
In episode six, the podcast will bring listeners inside the search for Mr Jónsson's remains, unravel clues about a potential source, and illustrate what happens to the identity of a family when someone goes missing.
Read on for more information on episode six, or save time and hit play above.
Identity
From the end of 2020 until roughly February 2024, the media largely disconnected from Mr Jónsson’s story, as headlines faded, so did people's interest.
But the Jónsson family did not have that luxury. Their pain did not diminish, it got worse.
The pandemic prevented Mr Jónsson’s former partner Kristiana Guðjónsdóttir, from going back and forth to Ireland.
It allowed her to refocus and reassess her relationship with Mr Jónsson. While she has not decided he is dead, she refers to herself as his former partner, like a breakup occurred after he went missing.
She wants to believe he is alive, even if that is unlikely.
Meanwhile, Mr Jónsson’s ex-wife Nina said the disappearance irrevocably changed their daughters.
She said their children had to grow up instantly, they now know parents can die or disappear and live in constant fear of losing her.
For Nina, her trust in the world has been shaken, she told the podcast that Mr Jónsson had been their "safety net".
Mr Jónsson’s sister Þórunn Jónsdottir decided to step away from the investigation for a period because it brought such anxiety and stress into her life.
For about two years, she did not really discuss the disappearance with her family.
It is understandable: Can you imagine every conversation with your family revolving around the worst thing that ever happened to you?
By 2023 nothing seemed to be happening with the case, but behind the scenes the gardaí had some new leads that could help crack open this case…
There are a lot of people who will never get an answer. And think about that, Hanna, I say. Think about that. Maybe this is the case.
- Hanna Björk Þrastardóttir, mother
Icelandic Intervention
As the years passed by, it seemed like not only did Mr Jónsson’s disappearance fade from public view, but also from the view of law Irish enforcement.
The investigation felt like it came to a screeching halt, so much so that towards the end of 2020, the man dealing with the case in Iceland - Einar Guðberg Jónsson - wanted to submit a request to the gardaí to gain full custody of the investigation.
If you think that sounds kinda unusual, you would be right… but there’s a catch, it’s not clear what happened next, if anything.
In January 2021, Mr Jónsson’s sister Anna Hildur contacted the Icelandic detective in charge of her brother’s case for information.
She was told there was movement, but they could not give further information at that time.
The family never heard anything further.
Members of the garda team leading Mr Jónsson’s case retired in 2021, and tragically, Detective Einar Guðberg Jónsson died from cancer.
The case remained open, but in both countries, there was no active progress taking place at this time.
Side note: Remember, the man we know as Alex, our murder suspect from last week? Well, by the end of 2021 he was in prison in another country, or rather back in prison…
We don't know what that work was, but the family heard no more. These moments of false hope, they eventually became too much for Jón's sister Þórunn, who took a step back from everything from her home in Gran Canaria
- Anna Marsibil Clausen, series producer
The Letters
By January 2024, the case was seemingly dormant, so much so the podcast team had hoped to interview the gardaí about the investigation, but then something changed…
Suddenly, the authorities were refusing to talk because it was once again an active and ongoing investigation. The podcast makers were perplexed, but then again, they didn’t know what the gardaí knew…
On the fifth anniversary of Mr Jónsson’s disappearance in February 2024, his sister Anna Hildur and his brother David Karl Willem came to Dublin to meet with the series producers and record in Dublin.
When the authorities were told about the visit, they made plans to meet with the siblings. Now, this is where things get interesting…
Directly after that meeting, the pair met with the podcast makers to inform them of major new developments in the case.
That interview was recorded and is in episode six of Where is Jón, but here’s an abridged version: two letters had been obtained that suggested Mr Jónsson’s remains were buried in a park in Dublin.
The first anonymous note was typed and sent to Ballymun garda station in the summer of 2022.
The second letter was handwritten and handed into a Catholic priest’s house near Ballymun garda station in late November 2023, around the same time the podcast started being recorded. Is this a coincidence, or did this investigation hit a nerve with somebody?
Well, no actually, because it’s not that simple…
The producers tracked down the priest who received that note back in 2023, and things didn’t quite match up. It’s truly amazing what a bit of investigative journalism can uncover.
He said the note wasn’t handed into the parish house in November but in late August 2023. He knows this because he moved to another parish in September 2023.
The garda investigative team reviewed their information and clarified that the note was received on 30 August 2023. It was then taken away for forensic analysis and only arrived back at the garda station in November 2023.
The first note sent to Ballymun Garda station was received on 31 August 2022, exactly one year earlier.
Why is this so important?
Because, dear reader, it implies that both notes were sent by the same person.
It mentioned a body of water and it was consistent, albeit not identical to the first note. It mentioned a body of water and it gave a description of how we might get to it
- Garda Sergeant Damian Beakey
Criminal Investigation
Garda Sergeant Damian Beakey said that after the gardaí received these notes, their attitude towards the investigation shifted.
He said their actions are more in line with that of a criminal investigation than a missing persons case. In other words, the notes gave a strong indication that they were now likely dealing with murder.
Sergeant Beakey told the podcast that both notes were sent for forensic analysis to Garda headquarters to see if fingerprints or DNA could be found, but they found nothing.
If the case were upgraded to murder, which it currently is not, then the authorities would have added powers like conducting searches, the power of arrest, and the power of questioning.
However, he stressed that to date, the investigation has not been hampered regarding powers.
Obviously, we can't definitively say, but we are treating it now and certainly since we received these anonymous letters that it could be of a criminal nature and everything we are doing in relation to the investigation is one of a criminal investigation
- Garda Sergeant Damian Beakey
The Search
After deeming the two anonymous notes credible, the gardaí told the Jónsson family that a search would be conducted.
The day after they met with the gardaí, Mr Jónsson’s brother and sister took part in a Garda press conference appealing for the public's assistance on the fifth anniversary of their brother’s disappearance.
The siblings debated staying in Ireland for the search but ultimately decided to return to Iceland to be with their family and wait.
Four days later, gardaí, including divers from the Garda sub-aqua unit, began a search of Santry Domain, a public park near where Mr Jónsson went missing.
No one outside of the authorities and the Jónsson family was aware of the search, except podcast producer Liam O’Brien, who was present for the entire operation, sending updates to the family.
Mr O’Brien’s texts and voice messages are all included in the podcast, taking the listener inside the search.
But after a few hours, the search was paused, gardaí were searching a small island on the park lake, nothing was found, but they wanted to cut down some growth and search again.
However, that was not the only reason for halting the search… a dog handler was moving to search an area around the lake when he requested that the public and their dogs be kept away from the area he wanted to search next…
That meant the authorities needed to close off public access and draft in extra personnel to keep the public out.
What happened next? Well, that is a matter for the seventh and final instalment of the podcast coming to a streaming service near you on Monday.
I was, like, restless. I was afraid of phone call, because even if you are waiting for news, you want to have some answer. It's scary, too
- Hanna Björk Þrastardóttir, mother
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
