BREAKING: Fresh garda search operation for missing Kilkenny woman Jo Jo Dullard begins

Gardaí investigating the disappearance and murders of Jo Jo Dullard and Deirdre Jacob are today commencing a search operation on open ground at a location in County Wicklow near the Wicklow/Kildare border.

This area of land will be searched and subject to excavation, technical and forensic examinations over the coming days.

An Garda Síochána continue to keep an open mind into these investigations and follow up any information which is brought to the investigation team based at the Serious Crime Review Team.

READ NEXT: 30 years of pain as family, friends and community remember Kilkenny woman Jo Jo Dullard

The search operation is being led by the Serious Crime Review Team, Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation and is supported by the Garda National Technical Bureau and local resources from Kildare Division as required.

The search operation has the support of other state expertise, if required.

READ NEXT: Thirty years on: ‘We need to bring her home’ say Jo Jo Dullard’s family

An Garda Síochána has been and continues to keep the families of Jo Jo Dullard and Deirdre Jacob updated in relation to these investigations and they have been fully appraised of today's developments.

READ NEXT: Investigation into the disappearance of Jo Jo Dullard upgraded to a murder investigation

An Garda Síochána appeals to anyone with any information, no matter how small or insignificant you might believe it to be to contact any garda station, or anyone who wishes to provide information confidentially should contact the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111.

Back in 2024, a male aged in his 50s who was arrested as part of the investigation into the disappearance and murder of Jo Jo Dullard but was subsequently released without charge.

This occurred at the same time as a different search operation on open ground at a location in County Wicklow near the Wicklow/Kildare border.

Callan native Josephine 'Jo Jo' Dullard went missing on November 9, 1995.

She left her home in Callan at 8:30am that day to travel to Dublin via bus.

Jo Jo met friends at a pub just off Grafton Street, however, later on in the evening she missed the last bus home and instead, boarded a 10pm bus to Naas, County Kildare. 

Upon arrival, she hitchhiked a lift from Naas to the Slip Road, on the M9 motorway at Kilcullen, County Kildare.

At approximately 11.15pm, Jo Jo then hitched another lift to Moone, County Kildare.

When she made it to the village, Jo Jo telephoned in her friend Mary Cullinan at 11.37pm in a phone booth, telling Mary that another car had stopped and she would be getting in. 

This was the last known interaction with Jo Jo.

The following morning, Jo Jo’s sister, Kathleen, reported her missing and gardaí launched an investigation.

On the 25th anniversary of the young woman's disappearance, gardaí declared that the investigation was no longer a missing person investigation but was now classified as murder. 

Just last year, on the 30th anniversary of Jo Jo's disappearance, her sister Kathleen said “she’s out there somewhere and we need to bring her home”, as she issued a fresh appeal for information.

In a video released by gardaí, Ms Bergin said: “Somebody has information out there. 

“Did they hear somebody talking?

“Did they see something that night?

“And we would ask them to look into their hearts, to please find the strength and courage to come forward, tell us what they know – even if they think it’s something very small, it could be the piece of the jigsaw we’re looking for.”

In a heartfelt plea, Ms Bergin said: “We need Jo Jo to finish her journey home and we would ask them, whatever was holding them back from coming forward, we hope their circumstances have changed.”

She described Jo Jo as a young woman who was “full of life” and who had “a great bunch of friends”, but said “that day she went to Dublin our lives changed forever”.

Ms Bergin added: “Little did she know going to Dublin that day she wouldn’t get to come back home again to us and get to see her niece and nephews, because they thought of her like a bigger sister.

“It’s had a huge impact on our family.”

Speaking about the night Jo Jo disappeared, Ms Bergin said she often wonders “what went through her mind when she realised: ‘I’m not going to get back home again.’

“I can only imagine the fear she was going through.”

The youngest of five siblings, Jo Jo’s father, John, died before she was born and her mother Nora died from cancer in 1983.

Ms Bergin says her sister “deserves to be brought home and laid to rest beside Mam and Dad”.

This investigation is ongoing and further updates will follow.