A POTENTIAL suspect in the disappearance of missing Icelandic poker player Jón Jónsson has been identified.
The 41-year-old was last seen in Whitehall, north of Dublin city, at around 11am on February 9, 2019 after visiting Ireland to attend the Dublin Poker Festival with his partner, Kristiana Guðjónsdóttir.
And, following a joint podcast series from RTE and Icelandic broadcaster RÚV called Where is Jon?, new information in the six-year-long missing persons investigation has come to light.
Two separate sources independently reached out to members of the Jónsson family in 2020 to suggest he had been killed by someone with criminal ties.
Mr Jónsson’s stepbrother Gunnar Dan Wiium, an addiction counsellor, received a phone call from someone who said he was murdered by an individual identified as ‘Alex’.
For legal reasons, the suspect’s identity cannot be made public.
Mr Wiium then called a friend who is an ex-addict with links to the criminal underworld in Iceland and was told ‘Alex’ had been living in Iceland and owed money to the Albanian mafia.
Mr Jónsson’s sister, Anna Hildur Jónsdóttir, also received the same information from another source close to ‘Alex’.
And no connection has been found between the two sources who divulged the same information regarding Mr Jónsson’s fate.
The Garda investigation into the disappearance of Jon has continued over the last six years.
Officers have followed over 270 lines of enquires and numerous statements have been taken and hours of CCTV were reviewed as part of the complex case.
Gardai also received two anonymous letters, which have been examined, but – as Jón has yet to be located despite ongoing enquiries – numerous questions surrounding the case remain.
WHERE DID JÓN GO MISSING?
Dad-of-four Jón was last seen in Whitehall at around 11am on February 9, 2019, with CCTV footage showing the taxi driver leaving the Bonnington Hotel, where he was playing in a poker festival.
He was last spotted at the exit of Highfield Hospital heading northbound on the Swords Road towards Collins Avenue.
He left his hotel room without his phone, passport and wallet, although he may have had a large sum of cash with him.
And since then, despite numerous appeals and searches, his family have been unable to trace his whereabouts.
Gardai have asked any persons who were at the Bonnington Hotel on the night of February 8 and morning of February 9th to get in touch.
A spokesperson said: “Were you at the Bonnington Hotel on the night of 8th Feb and morning of 9th Feb 2019? Did you come into contact with Jon? While it is [six] years since Jon went missing, this was a high profile case and therefore you might remember being there.”
WHO SENT GARDAI ANONYMOUS LETTERS?
In early February 2024, gardai received two items of anonymous correspondence.
A search of a public park with forestry and a lake took place in north Dublin as a result of the letters, which are understood to have contained vague information.
Gardai at Ballymun began the search at Santry Demense, which is around 3.5km from where Mr Jónsson was last seen, but were sadly unsuccessful in locating him.
Speaking last year, Superintendent Darren McCarthy urged anyone with any information about the anonymous letters to come forward.
He said: “During the course of the investigation, the investigation team has received two items of anonymous correspondence, the contents of which have been assessed.
“The Garda investigation team are appealing to the author or authors of those correspondences to make direct contact with them.
“Any contact will be dealt with in the strictest confidence.
WHAT DID ANONYMOUS LETTERS SAY?
The notes sent to gardai, which have not been deemed credible, suggested Jón’s remains could be found in a wooded area near a body of water in Santry Demesne.
The first anonymous letter was typed and received by Ballymun Garda Station and the second note was handed into a Catholic priest’s house near Ballymun Garda Station.
The letters led to the search of the park but no new information was found.
To date, Santry Demesne has not been fully searched and areas matching the description in the notes remain untouched, with the family requesting that the search be fully completed.
WHO IS ALEX?
Two separate sources reached out to members of the Jónsson family in 2020 to suggest Mr Jónsson had been killed by a man named Alex.
The suspect’s identity cannot be made public for legal reasons.
Mr Wiium, Mr Jónsson’s stepbrother, was told the alleged murderer worked as a hitman and was hired to take out an Icelandic man in Dublin but killed the wrong man.
An ex-addict friend with links to the criminal underworld in Iceland told him ‘Alex’ had been living in Iceland and owed money to the Albanian mafia.
Jón’s sister Ms Jónsdóttir, who was told the same information by another source, told the Icelandic police about the incidents and they passed it on to the gardai.
RTE series producers tracked down a source close to the suspect who previously spoke about a call they received from ‘Alex’ who said he had killed Jón in Dublin, having mistaken him for someone else.
The man allegedly responsible for Jón’s death reportedly flew to Dublin from Iceland just a few days before the dad-of-four arrived.
He has never been interviewed by gardai or Icelandic police and he has never been arrested or had a warrant out for his arrest in connection with the case.
WHO WAS ALEX ALLEGEDLY TARGETING?
One anonymous source who contacted the RTE podcast, given the pseudonym ‘Viktor’, is a member of the Icelandic poker community.
He said people in Iceland wanted to exact revenge on a man who was attending the Dublin Poker Festival the same weekend as Jón.
It is believed Jón was mistaken for this man.
WHAT DOES FAMILY THINK HAPPENED?
Speaking in the year he went missing, Jon’s devastated sister told how she fears he came to a sinister end.
Distraught Anna Hildur Jonsdottir also revealed how her brother’s disappearance has left his kids traumatised.
She said: “He had applied for a new taxi licence and had family arrangements.
“We need to find out what happened to Jon. The kids have the right to know, the thoughts and questions will follow us for life.
“We know that he didn’t just escape from his life. He had so many plans, we know that he didn’t just run away.
“I have a feeling that it didn’t go that well in the poker game. Maybe he met bad company after.
“Maybe just he won too much and they didn’t like it. I really think something happened to him. That’s my feeling.
“I am afraid that he is not alive and that leads me to the thought that someone did something to him.”
- The Jónsson family are visiting Dublin today to meet with the garda investigative team and to appear on RTE’s Late Late Show at 9:30pm tonight.
Jon’s family has been unable to trace his whereabouts[/caption]
