New search launched by gardaí investigating murders of JoJo Dullard and Deirdre Jacob

Ellen O'Donoghue

Gardaí have begun a search operation in Co Wicklow in connection with the disappearance and murders of Jo Jo Dullard and Deirdre Jacob.

The searches are taking place near the Wicklow/Kildare border after the Defence Forces assisted gardaí in completing a technical ground survey in the area last week.

The land will now be searched, excavated and forensically examined over the coming days, gardaí said.

The search operation is being led by the Serious Crime Review Team, Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation in conjunction with Gardaí from the Kildare/Carlow Division and is supported by the Garda National Technical Bureau and the Wicklow Garda Division.

Gardaí said they have been and continue to keep the families of Dullard and Jacob updated in relation to the investigations.

Josephine “Jo Jo” Dullard went missing on November 9th, 1995, while on her way home to Callan in Co Kilkenny after socialising in Bruxelles bar on Dublin’s Harry Street.

The 21-year-old missed her last bus to Kilkenny and instead boarded a 10pm bus to Naas, Co Kildare, intending to hitchhike the rest of the way home.

Deirdre Jacob, meanwhile, was last seen near her home at Roseberry, Newbridge in Co Kildare at about 3pm on July 28th, 1998.

She was 18 years old at the time of her disappearance and had just completed one year at St Mary’s University in London.

This week’s Garda operation follows a major excavation at a disused quarry in Co Wicklow in February.

Gardaí were acting on information, which they deemed credible, of a suspicious burial at the site, perhaps of human remains in a vehicle, back in the late 1990s.

Gardaí have appealed to anyone with any information, "no matter how small or insignificant you might believe it to be," to contact Kildare garda station on 045 527 730, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or any Garda station.