The family of Kilkenny woman Josephine “Jo Jo” Dullard, who is presumed murdered, have asked members of the public to join them to mark the 30th anniversary of her disappearance later today.
The 21-year-old was last seen at approximately 11.37pm on November 9th, 1995, in the village of Moone, Co Kildare, while attempting to make her way home to Callan, Co Kilkenny.
Ms Dullard had missed the last direct bus back to Kilkenny and had been hitching a lift from Naas, Co Kildare, after getting a bus to the town. The young woman was using a public phone in Moone when she told a friend, Mary Cullinane, that a car had stopped and she was going to get a lift. That was the last known sighting of her.
Ms Dullard was the youngest of five siblings. Her father John died before she was born and her mother Nora died from cancer in 1983. Her sister Mary Phelan died in 2018 not knowing what had happened to her.
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In October 2020, gardaí upgraded the investigation into her disappearance to a murder probe.
For three-and-a-half-weeks in November and December last year, a major Garda excavation of land near Grangecon in Co Wicklow was searched in an effort to locate her body or any evidence to show she may have been there.
A man in his 50s was the first person arrested on suspicion of the murder of Ms Dullard in November last year but was released without charge.
In a statement marking the anniversary of Jo Jo’s disappearance, gardaí once again outlined the events leading up to when the Kilkenny woman was last seen alive in a bid to jog people’s memories.
On November 9th, 1995, Ms Dullard travelled to Dublin where she spent the evening socialising in Bruxelles Bar, Harry Street, Dublin 2.
“She missed her last bus home to Kilkenny that evening and instead at 10pm boarded a bus to Naas, Co Kildare, where she intended to hitch hike the rest of the way home to Callan,” gardaí outlined in a statement
“Managing to hitch two lifts, one from Naas to the slip road on the M9 motorway at Kilcullen, Co Kildare, and then, the second, at around 11.15pm she hitched another lift to the nearby village of Moone.”
There Ms Dullard made a telephone call to her friend Mary Cullinan at 11.37pm. During that call, she told Mary that a car had stopped for her and she was going to take the lift. This was the last known interaction with Ms Dullard.
The following morning, Friday, November 10th, Ms Dullard’s sister, Kathleen, reported her missing and a missing persons investigation started.
Ms Dullard’s disappearance has been the subject of a sustained Garda investigation by the team based at Naas Garda station. The investigation is subject to ongoing review by the Serious Crime Review Team, National Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
In November 2020, on the 25th anniversary of Ms Dullard’s disappearance, An Garda Síochána confirmed that the case had been reclassified as a murder investigation as they were satisfied that serious harm had come to her on or about the night of November 9th, 1995.
“No person has been brought to justice for the murder of Jo Jo Dullard at this time. The investigation into the murder of Jo Jo Dullard has continued since the reclassification to ‘murder’ in 2020,” a Garda spokesperson said.
During the ongoing investigation, nearly 800 recommendations have been identified. These have generated new lines of inquiry actioned by the investigation team based at Naas Garda station, under the direction of the senior investigating officer and assisted by An Garda Síochána’s Serious Crime Review Team.
“Thirty years later An Garda Síochána continues to appeal to the public for any information on the disappearance and murder of Jo Jo Dullard on the 9th November 1995,” the spokesperson said.
Gardaí are appealing to anyone who met or saw Ms Dullard after 11.37pm on that night, or has any information in relation to her murder, to come forward.
The spokesperson said: “Jo Jo was in Bruxelles Bar, Harry Street (off Grafton Street), Dublin 2, on the 9th November 1995. Do you remember meeting Jo Jo?
“Jo Jo had her Sanyo stereo cassette player (model MGP21) with her ... Did anyone see this cassette player after the 9th November 1995? Did anyone receive such a cassette player from a friend or person that could not tell you from where they received it?”
Gardaí are also appealing to any person who was hitchhiking in the immediate area around Moone at the end of October or the start of November 1995 to come forward and speak to their investigation team.
“Or did you give a lift to a hitchhiker around the same time in the Moone area? If you did, the investigation team would like to talk to you.
“Gardaí continue to appeal to any person who may have previously come forward who felt they could not provide gardaí with all the information they had in relation to this matter, to contact the investigation team again.
“Jo Jo’s family have now suffered from her disappearance for 30 years. An Garda Síochána is resolute in our determination to provide answers for Jo Jo’s family and bring her murderer to justice.”
Her sister Kathleen Bergin said in a post on the official Jo Jo Dullard Missing Facebook page: “This Sunday the 9th of November will mark the 30th anniversary since JoJo’s disappearance. We will always keep the candle of hope lit for Jo, and that one day soon we will finally get to bring her home.”
The family are meeting inside the main entrance at Castle Park, Kilkenny, at 2pm and will then walk down to the national missing persons monument, where the remembrance service will be held.
Ms Bergin previously said that to be able to “lay her to rest beside Mam is all we want”.
She said she knows her sister is “surrounded by Mary, Tom, Mam, Dad. I still have a vivid memory of you and Mam baking buns in the kitchen while (the song) Bare Necessities from the Jungle Book played in the background. I hope you’re giggling with everyone up in heaven just like you were then.”
The Kilkenny woman appealed again for the public to “please come forward with any information you have, no matter how small or insignificant you may think it is. Every piece is important in finding Jo and bringing her home.”
