{"id":450507,"date":"2026-05-15T16:34:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T16:34:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/450507\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T16:34:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T16:34:16","slug":"mother-of-murdered-jastine-valdez-passes-away-on-visit-to-her-grave-8-years-after-killing-that-shocked-ireland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/450507\/","title":{"rendered":"Mother of murdered Jastine Valdez passes away on visit to her grave – 8 years after killing that shocked Ireland"},"content":{"rendered":"

The mother of murder victim Jastine Valdez died while on a trip to visit her daughter\u2019s grave in the Philippines, it has emerged.<\/p>\n

Tragic Jastine (24), who had moved with her parents to Ireland in search of a better life, was kidnapped and brutally murdered by monster Mark Hennessy in Enniskerry, Co Wicklow on May 19, 2018.<\/p>\n

Now as her loved ones are preparing to mark eight years since the senseless crime, the Irish Mirror has learned that Jastine\u2019s mother Tess sadly passed away, several months ago.<\/p>\n

Tess\u2019s tragic death, which has gone unreported until now, occurred while she was on a trip to the Philippines – where she was visiting her daughter\u2019s grave in November of last year.<\/p>\n

Jastine\u2019s remains had been repatriated to the Philippines after the horrific murder that saw Hennessy kill her and dump her remains at Puck\u2019s Castle in the Dublin Mountains – before he was ultimately shot and killed by an armed Garda.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Jastine Valdez with her parents Danilo and Teresita Valdez<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Jastine Valdez with her parents Danilo and Teresita Valdez<\/p>\n

It is understood Tess had been quietly battling cancer as she and her husband Danilo continued to grieve their daughter and tried to live and work in Ireland.<\/p>\n

However now it is understood that heartbroken Danilo has decided to remain in the Philippines following the tragic death of his wife.<\/p>\n

When contacted by the Irish Mirror, the former Philippine Consul to Ireland, Raymond Garrett, who was a friend of Tess, paid tribute to a woman who had incredible strength despite suffering so much pain.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter the loss of Jastine, she carried a pain that no parent should ever have to face. Yet, through all of that unimaginable trauma, she never gave up. Her faith in God, her courage and her quiet strength were remarkable,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the years after Jastine\u2019s passing, Tess faced many difficult personal and health challenges, but she kept fighting, supported with great love and devotion by her husband, Danny, who has also shown enormous courage and strength.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the time that followed, I was proud to call Tess a friend. She showed what it means to keep going when life has taken more than anyone should ever be asked to bear. Tess will be remembered with deep respect, not only as Jastine\u2019s mother, but as a strong and loving woman who left a lasting mark on those who knew her,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Another friend, Vanda Brady, told the Irish Mirror of her heartbreak at Tess’s death, and spoke of her and Jastine’s father Danilo’s incredible strength.<\/p>\n

“I was deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Thessie Valdez, the mother of Jastine Valdez. I stayed in touch with the family following Jastine\u2019s murder in 2018. I last spoke with Thessie in August 2025 when I invited her and her husband Danny to the Philippine National Heroes event and to meet the new Philippine Ambassador to Ireland. “During the event, I paid tribute to Jastine\u2019s memory and to the remarkable strength and dignity her parents showed through unimaginable loss,” she said.<\/p>\n

“Despite everything they endured, Thessie and Danny always carried themselves with grace, courage, and deep love for their daughter. My thoughts and prayers are with the Valdez family at this very difficult time.”<\/p>\n

Jastine\u2019s parents, who have always wanted her to be remembered, have paid tribute to her time and again in powerful statements issued to this paper on a number of anniversaries.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Teresita and Danilo Valdez, the parents of Jastine Valdez pictured at the inquest into the death of Justine <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Jastine Valdez<\/p>\n

In a statement issued to us two years ago they said: \u201cThinking of you each day with an aching heart. So we whisper and call your name every time just to ease the pain of losing you. The shock and the trauma still lingers. We are trying to live our best to fill the void.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe emptiness that you left and that no one can feel. We love you and missing you terribly Jastine our princes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Evil Mark Hennessy snatched and murdered Jastine because he is believed to have been infatuated with her – even rehearsing her abduction beforehand.<\/p>\n

Speaking publicly for the first time about the frantic search for Jastine, retired detective superintendent Frank Keenaghan previously told us that he believed Hennessy sexually assaulted the student before murdering her \u2013 and dumping her in heavy gorse in south County Dublin.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The parents of murder victim, Jastine Valdez, Teresita and Danilo Valdez pictured at St Brigid’s Church, Blanchardstown <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Mark Hennessy, shot dead by gardai in Cherrywood, Dublin, Sunday 20 May, 2018. Hennessy was suspected of being involved in the kidnapping of Jastine Valdez.<\/p>\n

The respected former senior garda told us how emergency workers begged Hennessy to tell them where he had hidden Jastine \u2013 as they fought to save his life after a Garda detective shot him at the end of a 24-hour manhunt.<\/p>\n

\u201cMark was on the ground being treated and I know that one or two of the ambulance people were there imploring him to tell us where she was. But there was no response,\u201d Mr Keenaghan said.<\/p>\n

Hennessy was shot dead by an armed garda in the Cherrywood Industrial estate after it was believed he was harming himself or even Jastine in the car he was in.<\/p>\n

After Hennessy died, gardai discovered a note in the car which contained the words \u201cPucks Castle,\u201d – the location where they ultimately found Jastine\u2019s remains.<\/p>\n

An inquest at Dublin Coroner\u2019s Court into Jastine\u2019s death, the jury returned a verdict of unlawful killing.<\/p>\n

At the time Detective Superintendent Frank Keeneghan said that garda\u00ed had carried out extensive examinations of the phones and social media profiles of Ms Valdez and Hennessy.No prior link between them was discovered.<\/p>\n

The cause of death, according to deputy state pathologist Dr Linda Mulligan, was asphyxia through external pressure on the neck.<\/p>\n

Ms Valdez’s boyfriend Joseph Squire said that she never took drugs and ‘was way too innocent for anything like that’.<\/p>\n

‘The image of that beautiful young woman remains with us,’ coroner Dr Myra Cullinane told the inquest.<\/p>\n

‘It is inconceivable how her parents can bear the loss of their only child. We’ve had a glimpse of the person that Jastine was and it is tragic that she’s been so cruelly taken in this way.’<\/p>\n

Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news from the Irish Mirror direct to your inbox: Sign up here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The mother of murder victim Jastine Valdez died while on a trip to visit her daughter\u2019s grave in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":450508,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[45,615,61,60,195631,43,7469],"class_list":["post-450507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-an-garda-siochana","tag-dublin","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-jastine-valdez","tag-news","tag-wicklow"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=450507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450507\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/450508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=450507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=450507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=450507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}