Jo Jo case now murder following a‘ significant’ new development
After 25 years, gardaí upgrade missing-persons case as they believe 21-year-old came to a violent end following final call to a friend from phone box
TWENTY-FIVE years after the disappearance of Jo Jo Dullard, 21, gardaí have upgraded the case to a murder investigation following a ‘hugely significant development’.
The young Kilkenny woman vanished without a trace on November 9, 1995, and despite numerous appeals for information, her family are still searching for answers.
On the day she disappeared, Ms Dullard had travelled to Dublin city where she socialised with friends in Bruxelles Bar before making her way home.
She missed the last direct bus to Co. Kilkenny, so she got a bus to Naas and then hitched two lifts to get to the village of Moone in Co. Kildare.
While in a phone box in Moone telling a friend where she was, a car pulled up next to her. She was never seen again.
But now in a ‘hugely significant development’, gardaí have revealed that she met her death through violent means.
The cold case, which has been upgraded to a murder inquiry, will
‘A number of persons of interest’
consist of a dedicated team of officers who will re- examine old lines of inquiries and probe deeper into Jo Jo’s disappearance.
This decision was on foot of a review in February by the Serious Crime Review Team and the National Bureau of Criminal Investigations who found that serious harm came to Ms Dullard.
Persons of interest who have been questioned previously will also be contacted and interviewed once again.
Detectives are appealing to anyone who met, saw, or has any information in relation to the 21-yearold’s murder to come forward.
At a press briefing in Newbridge, Co. Kildare, yesterday Superintendent Desmond McTiernan said: ‘We are satisfied as a result of our inquiries and those of the Serious Crime Review Team that Josephine Dullard came to harm on the night in question in Moone and we are reclassifying this investigation to that of murder.
‘This is about Jo Jo, this is about finding Jo Jo and is about getting justice for her and her family. I would appeal to anybody and everybody out there who has any information, let us decide whether that information is important.’
The superintendent urged the person responsible for her murder to ‘examine their conscience’.
‘People may have something on their mind, some nugget of information that is very, very relevant today,’ he said. ‘Twenty-five years have lapsed and they have this on their mind, they have it on their conscience, times have changed, associations, friendships have broken down, and they should feel free to approach us and be dealt with confidentially in bringing this matter to a conclusion.’
At the time of her disappearance, Ms Dullard was wearing a dark anorak jacket, blue jeans, black boots and was carrying a small rucksack.
She also had her black Sanyo stereo cassette player ( model MGP21) and earphones with her.
Gardaí believe this could be a key element in solving the case.
Supt McTiernan added: ‘She was in possession of that on the night in question and somebody may have seen this, it may have been taken and given to somebody as a present, it may have been found at a location near the phone box.’
Gardaí are also appealing to anyone to come forward who was hitch-hiking in the immediate area around Moone at the end of October 1995 or the start of November 1995, or anyone who may have given a lift to a hitch-hiker around the same time in the Moone area.
Kildare Garda Superintendent Martin Walker said gardaí will be looking at old rumours, old information, current intelligence and current information.
‘We are largely dependent on people stepping forward,’ he said.
‘Jo Jo had plans for the future. She was starting a new job the following week. She was excited about life and enjoyed life.’
Three years after her disappearance, her family became the driving force behind Operation Trace, set up by former Garda commissioner Pat Byrne to investigate the cases of six young women who disappeared from the Leinster area over a five-year period; namely Jo Jo Dullard, Fiona Sinnott, Deirdre Jacob, Ciara Breen, Fiona Pender and Annie McCarrick.
Alan Bailey, former sergeant of the Cold Case Unit and the national co- ordinator for Operation Trace, told Newstalk’s Hard
Shoulder yesterday that Ms Dullard’s case being upgraded to a murder investigation is ‘hugely significant’.
‘There will now be a full investigation team on this with their own senior investigating officer,’ he said. ‘It’s a hugely significant development and as an investigator myself, I welcome it.
‘The [public] interest that this will bring to the investigation is also significant. ‘There are a number of persons of interest to this investigation still out there. They’ll be now followed up more intensely. ‘That’s not to say they are suspects, but certainly [of interest] for one reason or another – maybe a murderer in a previous crime or someone relating to violence or sexual violence. ‘All these things would raise flags for the [team] and they will have to treat them as persons of interest in this investigation.’ Since her disappearance, there have been rumours that Ms Dullard and several other missing women were the victims of a serial killer operating in the east of t he country in t he mid to late Nineties.
These cases were known as the Vanishing Triangle.
However, gardaí no longer believe this theory – as most of the missing women are now suspected to have been killed by someone known to them.
There were unconfirmed reports of a woman matching Jo Jo’s description being seen in a Toyota Carina-type car on the night of her disappearance.
In an interview with RTÉ News on November 14, 1995, Garda Superintendent Vincent Duff said: ‘We are naturally very concerned.
‘She is 21 years of age but she did leave home on Thursday morning and didn’t indicate to anybody that she didn’t intend on returning home that day and the expectation was that she would.’
Ms Dullard’s sister, Kathleen Bergin, also appealed to the public for information yesterday, but expressed sadness that her parents and two other siblings, Mary and Tom, had passed away without ever finding out what happened to their loved one.
They had campaigned continuously for information on her disappearance over the last 25 years, working with gardaí and holding protests outside Leinster House and elsewhere.
Last year, the family made a fresh appeal on the 24th anniversary of Jo Jo’s disappearance.
In a statement, Ms Bergin said: ‘Twenty-four years have passed and there is still no sign of Jo Jo.
‘There were no mobile phones or tablets in 1995, there were no texts or apps to contact a friend or a family member, to tell them, “I’ll be home soon” or “I love you”, no way to trace where a person is.
‘Twenty-four years ago a young woman disappeared without a trace, a young woman who was starting out on a new adventure in life, a life that was stripped away. Can you see her? A beautiful young lady, dark shoulder-length hair, a beautiful smile and looking forward to her future. Can you picture her? Can you see her? Can you imagine if that was your daughter, your sister, your niece or your best friend? Can you see her now?
‘Can you imagine not being able to reach out and touch that person’s hand anymore, not being able to give that person a hug anymore, not being able to tell them you love them anymore?
‘When someone goes missing, it has a devastating effect on the family, her friends and the community. Our brother Tom and sister Mary have passed away not knowing what happened to Jo.
‘She poured her heart and her soul into trying to find her, even up to the last moments of her life. It’s time for Jo Jo to come back home to her family and be laid to rest with her Mam and Dad.’
Anyone with any information can contact Kildare Garda Station on 045 527 730 or any garda station. Anyone wishing to provide information confidentially should contact the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111.
‘A life that was stripped away’