Set up a unit to find the missing: Dad

THE father of missing Deirdre Jacob has called for gardaí to set up a specialised missing persons unit.

Michael Jacob made the call as the family marked the 20th anniversary of the Co. Kildare woman’s disappearance from her Newbridge home.

She was just 18 years old when she vanished from the home in Roseberry on July 28, 1998.

Last December, Mr Jacob called for more resources to be dedicated to investigating the cases of missing people in Ireland – as he labelled the current system ‘hit and miss’.

Speaking on behalf of relatives of missing people, Mr Jacob, whose daughter would now be 39, made the call at the fifth annual event marking National Missing Persons Day at Farmleigh in Dublin’s Phoenix Park.

The search for missing people is currently the responsibility of the Missing Persons Bureau, which is staffed by a sergeant, a garda and a civilian. It co-ordinates with gardaí at local level under the supervision of the local superintendent.

Mt Jacob said Kildare gardaí have done all they could to try and find his daughter. But he said a new unit would be able to take advantage of new technology, and have dedicated resources.

Of his own daughter’s case, he said it was ‘like a jigsaw and there are a few pieces missing’.

He added: ‘We are appealing to anyone who has those pieces to come forward.’