A year on since missing Elizabeth Clarke’s case was officially upgraded to a murder investigation, her mum Noeleen says the pain has only intensified.
After more than 12 years of uncertainty, the past 12 months have been filled with tense waiting for answers for Noeleen and her family and the relentless hope that justice for Elizabeth is within reach. Mum of two Elizabeth Clarke vanished without a trace in 2013, when she was just 24 years of age. She was last seen at the beginning of November in 2013 in Navan, Co Meath.
Ms Clarke, who had lived in Portrane, Co Dublin and Bettystown, Co Meath as well as at another address in Co Meath, was officially reported missing in January 2015 after she failed to turn up for her grandfather’s funeral. She had been estranged from her family, including her mum Noeleen Bieninda for a number of years.
In February 2025, investigators re-classed the investigation from a missing person investigation to a murder investigation as a result of the extensive enquiries. Gardai are investigating if Elizabeth, who was a vulnerable person, was murdered around the time she was last seen at the beginning of November 2013.
Before her disappearance, Elizabeth lived with her two children, her ex-partner Kevin Stanley, his father Larry and Larry’s late wife Susan in Navan. And despite extensive garda searches and ongoing investigations, no trace of her body has ever been found.
Elizabeth Clarke, who went missing in 2012 and has not been seen since(Image: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin)
Now, speaking 12 months after the case was officially upgraded to murder, Noeleen said: “We won’t stop speaking out until we have answers and justice for Elizabeth. Every day is a mixture of hope and heartbreak. It’s like a living hell. It’s been a year since Elizabeth’s case was upgraded to a murder investigation, and not knowing what happened still haunts me.
“Some days I feel strong enough to carry on, other days the grief is overwhelming. The worry, the sleepless nights, the constant questions. It changes everything. We try to hold onto the memories, but the uncertainty is a weight we all carry. All we want is answers, and every update, even the smallest, gives us some clarity and hope.”
Noeleen remains determined to see justice for her daughter, refusing to let the case fade from public attention.
“I just want to know the truth about what happened to my daughter. I fear that justice may take too long, but I hope that by speaking out, we can prevent this from happening to another family.”
Previously Noeleen told the Irish Mirror that each morning she sits in her kitchen going back over everything “again and again” to try and piece together what happened to her daughter.
“I sit here everyday stressed. I want to know where she is and who killed her. I am not getting anywhere,” Noeleen told us. And I have gotten no justice for Elizabeth. She is my daughter and I want to know what happened to her and where she is,” Noeleen said.
26/10/’18 Noleen Bieninda and her son Ricki, mother and brother of missing woman, Elizabeth Clarke, pictured in their home this afternoon in Portrane, North Co. Dublin…Elizabeth went missing in 2012, and has not been seen since…Picture Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin.
“Elizabeth was a good kid. She was full of beans and she would stand her ground,” Noeleen said. I can’t get my head around it. I was told she left the house, went down the road and just vanished. How could she just disappear into thin air? Nothing about it all makes sense.
“I just want answers and want to know what happened to Elizabeth. And I am appealing to those who know where she is buried to come forward to gardai, even anonymously. Ease your conscience,” Noeleen said, appealing directly to the person or persons responsible. All I want is to bring Elizabeth home and give her a proper burial and lay her to rest.
In February 2025, An Garda Siochana re-classed the investigation from a missing person investigation to a murder investigation as a result of the extensive enquiries. A search of a house in Navan took place that same month but it is understood nothing of evidential value was discovered.
The searches, which commenced last Friday, February 7 and concluded on Monday, February 10, were part of the Garda probe into the disappearance of Elizabeth – which was upgraded to a murder investigation.
The results of the searches of the property in Navan are not being released for operational purposes and the investigation into Elizabeth’s disappearance and murder is ongoing.
Gardai say the investigation remains open and are once again appealing for anyone with information no matter how small to contact them.
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