The location where Trevor Deely went missing
Last Seen Location in Ballsbridge, Dublin, Ireland
This is the location where Trevor Deely went missing.
It is located outside 1-2 Haddington Road in Ballsbridge, Dublin.
In the early hours of December 8th, 2000, a CCTV camera captured Deely walking past this building. This was the last time that he was seen alive. Since then, there has been no trace of the missing 22-year-old.
Earlier that night, Deely was at a staff Christmas party. At the time, he was employed as an IT worker at the Bank of Ireland Asset Management department.
At around 3.20 a.m., he left Buck Whaley's nightclub by himself and walked in the rain to his workplace on Wilton Terrace, which was just around the corner.
When he reached the entrance, he had a brief conversation with a man in black clothes who had been standing outside the bank for roughly 30 minutes.
This individual, who is often referred to as "the man in black", has yet to be identified.
Inside his workplace, Deely drank a cup of coffee, checked his emails, and talked to a colleague who was on the night shift. Thirty minutes later, he grabbed an umbrella and left, heading east along Wilton Terrace.
That night, he had to walk the 2 kilometers back to his apartment at the Renoir complex on Serpentine Avenue, as taxi drivers were striking against government plans to deregulate the industry.
Roughly 500 meters up Wilton Terrace, he crossed the Baggot Street bridge and then turned left onto Haddington Road. It was at this location that a security camera above an ATM machine captured him walking past with an umbrella.
This was Deely's last known whereabouts. What happened next remains a mystery.
The CCTV footage from Haddington Road showed a man who was roughly 10–20 meters behind him, walking in the same direction.
Over the years, there has been much speculation about whether this person was following him from afar. It was also suspected that he was the same "man in black" who had been standing outside Deely's workplace roughly 30–60 minutes prior.
However, in December 2023, it emerged that the man on Haddington Road had already been identified and ruled out.
Investigators do not believe that he was the same dark-clothed man who briefly spoke with Deely outside the bank.
That man has yet to come forward.
It is possible that the "man in black" is a red herring, as the pair did not speak for long. Given the time of night, it would not be surprising if their conversation was completely trivial.
Although the canal near Haddington Road was searched, no trace of Deely has ever been found.
To this day, he remains listed as a missing person.
Trevor Deely: Last seen location
The address and the GPS coordinates for this location are as follows:
Address
1-2 Haddington Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin, D04 N1W6, Ireland
The Eircode is D04 N1W6
GPS coordinates
The latitude and longitude coordinates for the building are:
53.334162, -6.244986
Directions
The building sits on the corner of Haddington Road and Baggot Street in Ballsbridge. At the time, it was occupied by the Bank of Ireland. These days, it is an Italian restaurant called Milano.
Photos
Photos of the building and other related images.
Buck Whaley's nightclub
Deely left Buck Whaley's at approximately 3.20 a.m. The nightclub, which closed in 2015, was located at 67 Lower Leeson Street.
Coordinates: 53.333807, -6.254310
Trevor Deely's route
This aerial image shows the route that Deely took in the early hours of December 8th, 2000.
After leaving Buck Whaley's, he walked to his workplace on Wilton Terrace, which was just around the corner.
The CCTV footage shows that Deely had a brief conversation with an unidentified, dark-clothed man who was standing outside the Bank of Ireland building.
After going inside the bank, he checked his emails and spoke with a work colleague. Shortly after 4 a.m., Deely left his workplace and began walking east along Wilton Terrace.
The last known sighting of the 22-year-old occurred at 4.14 a.m., when a surveillance camera captured him walking up Haddington Road with an umbrella.
Man in black
Image source: James Lawlor
James Lawlor created the comparison photograph above.
It shows the exact spot where the unidentified "man in black" was standing when Deely arrived at his workplace. The man had been standing outside the building since 3 a.m.
Gate
Image source: James Lawlor
The "man in black" stood beside the IT worker while he was trying to open this gate.
The CCTV footage shows that the pair talked for approximately 20 seconds.
Following their conversation, the man stood with his back against the gate and his head down.
When Deely finally went inside, this "person of interest" stayed in the same spot for at least 11 seconds (it may have been longer, as the released CCTV footage cuts off before he is seen leaving).
There doesn't seem to be any indication that Deely mentioned this interaction to the security guard who let him in or his coworker inside the building. Therefore, it is possible that he didn't find it particularly strange or threatening.
Of course, it is also possible that the details of this conversation are being withheld from the public for investigative reasons.
Timeline
This Google Street View of Deely's former workplace was taken in September 2021.
The events, according to the CCTV timestamps:
03:34:17: Deely passes the man in black at Point 1. However, they don't seem to talk to one another. Judging by the footage, the IT worker is talking on the phone. For the next 17 seconds, the man continues to stand in the same place.
03:34:34: It appears as though the "man in black" hears something. At that point, he turns around and walks over to the gate (Point 2).
03:34:43: The man appears at the gate. Notably, Deely hasn't appeared yet, even though we saw him walk past "Point 1" 23 seconds earlier. This indicates that he stopped somewhere between "Point 1" and "Point 2".
03:35:01: Deely finally arrives at the gate. Judging by the timestamps, he stood somewhere between Point 1 and Point 2 for 44 seconds.
03:35:07: While he is attempting to open the gate, the man in black stands beside him. During this timeframe, they have a brief conversation.
03:35:31: Deely is still at the gate. The other man's head appears to slump over to his right. This may indicate that he is under the influence of something. For the next 20 seconds, the man stands beside Deely with his head down and his back against the gate. Judging by their body language, they don't appear to be talking to each other.
03:35:52: The gate finally opens, and Deely goes inside. It takes the man exactly three seconds to turn around and realize that the gate has been opened. By the time he turns around, it has already been closed. This sluggishness lends credence to the theory that he was under the influence of something.
04:02:19: 27 minutes later, Deely exits the gate and fixes his jacket. He then walks over to the wall on his right. After opening his umbrella, he turns to his left and proceeds to walk east along Wilton Terrace. By this stage, it appears as though the man in black has disappeared.
Coordinates: 53.332523, -6.252236
He looks to his right
In the CCTV footage, he stands near the top of the lane and spends 22 seconds opening his umbrella. He then walks off to the left.
Position
This Google Street View shows Deely's approximate position in the previous CCTV still.
The red arrow is pointing in the direction that he originally came from after leaving Buck Whaley's. The blue arrow is pointing in the direction that he walked after leaving his workplace.
Deely walked along Wilton Terrace
At 4.03 a.m., Deely started walking east on Wilton Terrace. Three minutes into his journey, he used his Nokia 1610 to call his friend.
However, his friend was asleep at the time. As a result, the call went to his voicemail.
In the voicemail message, he said that everything was good and that he would see him tomorrow.
Notably, his Nokia has never been found.
Baggot Street Bridge
Once Deely reached Baggot Street, he crossed the bridge and then turned to his left, heading northeast on Haddington Road.
The red dot pinpoints the area where he was last captured on CCTV.
This was his last known location.
The second "man in black" was ruled out
Another man appeared roughly 22 seconds after Deely walked past the CCTV camera.
Initially, it was suspected that this was the same "man in black" who had talked to Deely outside his workplace.
However, this turned out to be false.
In December 2023, it was reported that investigators had enhanced the security footage and identified the individual in the CCTV image above. It also emerged that the man in question had provided the police with a statement during the early stages of the investigation.
Investigators are now satisfied that this man had nothing to do with Deely's disappearance.
Haddington Road
This Google Street View image of Haddington Road was taken in July 2018. This is the last place where the 22-year-old was seen alive.
Deely's apartment
Deely lived in an apartment at the Renoir complex in St. James' Court on Serpentine Avenue.
It should have taken him 20–30 minutes to reach the complex.
Coordinates: 53.329539, -6.224646
Theories
Deely's movements after he walked past the CCTV camera on Haddington Road remain a mystery.
The route that he chose (blue arrow) is slightly longer than the quickest route back to his apartment (yellow line).
However, we do know he was a smoker and that there was a 24-hour shop on Bath Avenue, near the eastern end of Haddington Road. If he needed cigarettes, then it is possible that he decided to walk to this shop before heading back to his apartment.
Smokers tend to smoke a lot more after they've consumed alcohol due to increased nicotine cravings. Notably, he did not light up a cigarette after leaving his workplace. This may suggest that he was fresh out after the Christmas party.
Something as simple as his own personal preference may have also influenced his decision to walk along Haddington Road, as there is only a three-minute difference between the two routes.
The time difference would be even less for a fit person walking at a reasonably fast pace.
Because his phone reportedly remained active for a number of days, it seems unlikely that he accidentally fell into the canal or the River Dodder. Furthermore, his umbrella was never found. In the security footage, we can see that it was open. If he did fall into a river, then it seems likely that the umbrella would have been found snagged on a rock or a branch.
If he didn't fall into the water, then one has to wonder how a 6-foot-tall man managed to vanish from the middle of Dublin City without a trace.
If he did die at the hands of another person, then it is likely that his killer had enough time and privacy to make him disappear. In other words, they didn't attack him on the side of a busy city street and then haul him off to a discreet location. That would have been a difficult feat to pull off without being spotted, even at that time of the morning, as the security footage shows that there was still a considerable amount of traffic in the area.
One theory is that he went back to a private residence. For example, he may have started talking to someone (or a group) who invited him to a house for drinks. Deely was intoxicated, and he was facing a 25-minute walk back to his apartment in the rain. Consequently, he may have been willing to accept such an invitation.
If the private residence theory is correct, then anything could have happened. For example, a disagreement may have spiraled out of control.
Theorizing about unsolved cases is difficult, as life is full of chance encounters. Past cases have shown us that anyone can become a victim if they meet the wrong person at the wrong time.
Although Deely did work at a bank, he was a young, low-level IT worker who had no access to money or client information. He was not someone who held an influential position. The theory that he was the victim of a targeted "tiger" kidnapping operation seems like a stretch, especially when you consider the time of night and the fact that the man stood directly in front of his workplace. It is possible that his encounter with the man at the Bank of Ireland building is completely inconsequential to the case.
Due to the taxi strike, the bad weather, and the high number of Christmas parties, there would have been a lot more vehicle traffic than usual. The taxi situation may have led to a sizeable number of people driving home under the influence. This raises the possibility that someone struck the 22-year-old, panicked, and then covered up the accident by putting him in their vehicle.
Deely went missing four days before US President Bill Clinton was due to arrive in Ireland. Therefore, it is plausible that the umbrella was swept up during the city-wide clean-up. In the days leading up to Clinton's visit, all large bins were cleared out for security purposes.
An umbrella on the street after a night of rain would not have raised any eyebrows.
Although the drunk driver theory is possible, it would have had to have happened very fast and on a relatively empty street.
Sadly, suicide cannot be completely ruled out either. Families who have lived through such tragic circumstances will often recall how their loved one seemed normal and even cheerful in the days leading up to their suicide.
True crime "sleuths" on Reddit and Twitter tend to discard the "boring" theories and focus on the more "exciting" ones. However, if you study enough solved cases, you'll quickly realize that the simpler explanations have a much better track record of being true.
Map Viewer
There is more than one location associated with this entry. To view all of these places on the same map, you can use the following feature:
Closest Locations
Other locations that are relatively close to this address:
The pub that Jo Jo Dullard visited on the day of her disappearance
Roughly 2KM away.
Place of Interest in Dublin City, Dublin, Ireland
The street where Martin Cahill was shot dead
Roughly 2KM away.
Death Location in Ranelagh, Dublin, Ireland
The location where Gareth Hutch was murdered
Roughly 3KM away.
Crime Location in Rotunda, Dublin, Ireland
The location where RTE recorded a man slipping on ice
Roughly 4KM away.
Filming Location in Dublin City, Dublin, Ireland