‘Person of Interest’ in Missing Poker Player Jon Jonsson Case Refuses to Talk

Irish police searching for a possible breakthrough in the case of an Icelandic poker player who went missing in Dublin seven years ago have identified a “person of interest” – but they say he’s refusing to talk.

Jon Jonsson, a 41-year-old taxi driver and father of four, vanished on February 9, 2019, less than 24 hours after arriving alone in Ireland to play in the Dublin Poker Festival, which was due to begin the following day.

Jonsson lost around €4,000 playing cash games at Dublin’s Bonnington Hotel, the venue hosting the festival, on the night before his disappearance.

At around 11 a.m. the following morning, he was captured by the hotel’s security cameras heading out along Swords Road before apparently disappearing into thin air.

His absence was discovered by his fiancée, who flew in the next day for what the couple had hoped would be a ten-day stay in the Irish capital.

Icelandic National

Gardaí (Irish police) said the individual they wish to question is an Icelandic national currently living in Liverpool, England. The man declined a request for an interview through his lawyer, the Irish Independent reported Sunday, August 23.

Investigators do not have enough evidence to arrest the man and had hoped a voluntary interview would allow them to put a number of questions to him, according to the newspaper.

The individual, who has criminal convictions, is believed to have arrived in Ireland around a month before Jonsson disappeared. Investigators have established when he entered the country but are less certain about when he left.

No Trace

Earlier this year, The Irish Times reported that gardaí had identified a UK-based man as a person of interest and were working with British authorities in an effort to interview him.

Gardaí have received what the Independent described as “unsubstantiated intelligence” suggesting Jonsson may have been killed by a fellow Icelander, either because of a gambling debt or in a case of mistaken identity.

Despite extensive searches, hundreds of lines of inquiry, and repeated public appeals, no trace of the Icelander has ever been found.

In February 2024, gardaí searched Santry Demesne in north Dublin after receiving an anonymous tip related to Jonsson’s disappearance. No evidence explaining what happened to him was discovered.