Missing Jo Jo & Deirdre families make first dig site visit with ‘closure’ hope as gardai search for killer’s buried car
THE relatives of missing Jo Jo Dullard and Deirdre Jacob were yesterday spotted at the search site for the two women feared murdered.
Deirdre’s parents Michael and Bernadette Jacob and Jo Jo’s sister Kathleen Bergin were shown around the garda dig as officers continued a huge excavation of land around a remote quarry in Co Wicklow.
They arrived just after 5pm as Gardai concluded their seventh day of searching at the site.
It was the first time the Jacob family were present since the dig started last Monday.
Senior officers from the Gardai’s Serious Crime Review Team also visited the site yesterday.
A source said: “The families of the missing women were keen to visit the site to see for themselves the work that was going on.
“Gardai facilitated the request as the search was drawing to a conclusion.”
Before arriving at the site, investigators also examined a car axle which had been recovered.
However, detectives don’t believe it is linked to any of the cars prime suspect Larry Murphy had access to and it is understood to be from a more recent vehicle.
It has been alleged that convicted rapist Murphy may have buried one of the women in a car under the ground and that a credible tip-off was made to officers who brought in a digger to excavate the area.
Gardai believe that Murphy could have buried up to three cars at the quarry and, at the time of Jo Jo’s disappearance, he had access to a number of vehicles — including a Renault and Fiat.
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The search is set to resume today.
Meanwhile, the loved ones of Jo Jo — who disappeared in November 1995 — thanked the public for the “wonderful support” they have received following the dig for her and missing Kildare woman Deirdre.
In an emotional social media post, they wrote: “With the ongoing search for Jo Jo and Deirdre this last week, we would like to express our heartfelt thanks for all your wonderful support. Thank you for your kind words, prayers and keeping a candle lit for Jo Jo and Deirdre.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the teams carrying out this search and it is reassuring to hear the Garda Commissioner say they have everything they need.
“We are appealing to those people who have information, no matter how small, to please come forward.”
Anyone with information is asked to call Naas Garda station on 045 884 300, the Garda confidential line on 1800 666 111 or the missing persons helpline on 1800 442 552.
Meanwhile, Jo Jo’s emotional niece Imelda Kennedy posted on social media: “Please God we can finally get closure and bring Auntie Jo home and lay her to rest.”
On November 9, 1995, 21-year-old Jo Jo was last seen in a phone box in Moone, Kildare, after spending the evening socialising in Dublin.
The young woman, from Callan, got the bus to Naas, Kildare, and managed to hitch two lifts to Moone, after she missed the bus home.
She then made a telephone call to her friend Mary Cullinan at 11.37pm and said a car had stopped for her and she was going to take the lift.
Her sister Kathleen reported her missing and a Garda investigation began after she failed to return home the following morning.
Her disappearance was upgraded to a murder investigation in 2020.
Nearly 800 recommendations have been looked at by the Investigation Team based at Naas Garda Station, including a search in 2024 near Grangecon in Wicklow.
Meanwhile, fellow missing woman, 18-year-old Deirdre Jacob, was last seen outside her family home in Newbridge, Kildare.
The trainee teacher had returned while on her summer break from university in London.
On the afternoon of July 28, 1998, she walked to Newbridge to visit the AIB bank and Post Office and was last seen crossing the road towards the entrance to her home carrying a black satchel-type bag.
Her case was later upgraded to a murder probe in 2018 after cops received information which led them to reclassify the case.
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A file was sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions to have convicted rapist Larry Murphy charged with the murder but the DPP declined to prosecute.
A search for her remains was made in 2021 in a wooded area of Brewel East, on the Kildare/Wicklow border.
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The search is set to resume today.
Meanwhile, the loved ones of Jo Jo — who disappeared in November 1995 — thanked the public for the “wonderful support” they have received following the dig for her and missing Kildare woman Deirdre.
In an emotional social media post, they wrote: “With the ongoing search for Jo Jo and Deirdre this last week, we would like to express our heartfelt thanks for all your wonderful support. Thank you for your kind words, prayers and keeping a candle lit for Jo Jo and Deirdre.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the teams carrying out this search and it is reassuring to hear the Garda Commissioner say they have everything they need.
“We are appealing to those people who have information, no matter how small, to please come forward.”
Anyone with information is asked to call Naas Garda station on 045 884 300, the Garda confidential line on 1800 666 111 or the missing persons helpline on 1800 442 552.
Meanwhile, Jo Jo’s emotional niece Imelda Kennedy posted on social media: “Please God we can finally get closure and bring Auntie Jo home and lay her to rest.”
On November 9, 1995, 21-year-old Jo Jo was last seen in a phone box in Moone, Kildare, after spending the evening socialising in Dublin.
The young woman, from Callan, got the bus to Naas, Kildare, and managed to hitch two lifts to Moone, after she missed the bus home.
She then made a telephone call to her friend Mary Cullinan at 11.37pm and said a car had stopped for her and she was going to take the lift.
Her sister Kathleen reported her missing and a Garda investigation began after she failed to return home the following morning.
Her disappearance was upgraded to a murder investigation in 2020.
Nearly 800 recommendations have been looked at by the Investigation Team based at Naas Garda Station, including a search in 2024 near Grangecon in Wicklow.
Meanwhile, fellow missing woman, 18-year-old Deirdre Jacob, was last seen outside her family home in Newbridge, Kildare.
The trainee teacher had returned while on her summer break from university in London.
On the afternoon of July 28, 1998, she walked to Newbridge to visit the AIB bank and Post Office and was last seen crossing the road towards the entrance to her home carrying a black satchel-type bag.
Her case was later upgraded to a murder probe in 2018 after cops received information which led them to reclassify the case.
A file was sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions to have convicted rapist Larry Murphy charged with the murder but the DPP declined to prosecute.
A search for her remains was made in 2021 in a wooded area of Brewel East, on the Kildare/Wicklow border.
