Josephine “Jo Jo” Dullard went missing on November 9 1995 after spending an evening socialising in Bruxelles bar on Harry Street in Dublin – she tried to hitchhike home after missing the last bus
A man has been arrested for the murder of a young woman who went missing in 1995 on her way home from Dublin almost 29 years to the day after she was last seen.
Josephine “Jo Jo” Dullard went missing on November 9 1995 after spending an evening socialising on Harry Street in Dublin. The 21-year-old left Bruxelles bar and vanished while trying to hitchhike after missing the last bus home to Callan in County Kilkenny.
Instead she got on a 10pm bus to Naas, a town in County Kildare to the West of Dublin, with the intention to hitchhike the rest of the way home, a journey of more than an hour by car. She hitched a lift from Naas to the slip road on the M9 motorway at Kilcullen, County Kildare, and at 11.15pm got another lift to Moone in the county, the Irish Mirror reports.
While there Ms Dullard called her friend Mary Cullinan at 11.37pm from a phone box – in the middle of that phone call she said a car had stopped for her and she was going to take the lift. Nothing more was heard from her after that.
The Garda have been investigating her disappearance ever since. In November 2020 her disappearance was confirmed to be classified as murder, with investigators believing that serious harm came to her around the time she vanished.
In a major update issued on Monday, a Garda spokesperson confirmed that an arrest has been made. They also confirmed that a search operation has commenced today on open ground at a location in Co Wicklow in connection with her disappearance and murder. Two private residences were also searched this morning.
In a statement the force said: “Gardaí investigating the disappearance and murder of Josephine ‘Jo Jo’ Dullard have this morning arrested a male on suspicion of the murder of Jo Jo Dullard. The male, aged in his 50s, is currently detained under the provisions of section 4, Criminal Justice Act, 1984 at a Garda Station in Co. Kildare.”
In an update this afternoon Superintendent Paul Burke said the search operation at a location near the Wicklow/Kildare border had commenced today. Speaking from Naas Garda Station, he added: “This area of land will be searched and subject to excavation, technical and forensic examinations over the coming days.
“The arrest and search operation is being led by the investigation team from Kildare Division Serious Crime Unit and the Serious Crime Review Team, Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation. The search is being carried out by the Kildare Divisional Search Team supported by the Garda National Technical Bureau and local Divisional Scenes of Crime Unit.”
He said investigating officers would have the support of state expertise including a Forensic Archaeologist, if required.
Over the weekend, officers launched an appeal for information on her disappearance and murder to coincide with the 29th anniversary of when she was last seen. As part of the appeal Ms Dullard’s sister Kathleen Bergin said: “That day she went to Dublin, our lives changed forever. She’s out there somewhere and we need to bring her home. Jo Jo was a lovely, wonderful, kind, caring person who always thought of others.”
Ms Bergin added: “We often wonder what went through her mind when she realised ‘I’m not going to get back home again’. We can only imagine the fear she was going through. After all these years, she deserves to be brought home and laid to rest beside mam and dad. Someone has information out there. We’d ask them to look into their hearts to please find the strength and the courage to come forward. It could be the piece of the jigsaw we’re looking for.”
