A man in his 50s arrested for questioning over the disappearance and murder of Josephine ‘Jo Jo’ Dullard in 1995 has been released without charge.
Gardaí said in a statement on Tuesday that a search operation at a Co Wicklow location near the Kildare border is ongoing.
The man who had been arrested is a member of a well-known family in the Kildare-Wicklow region.
Gardaí took the strategic decision to detain him on Monday morning, just two days after a public appeal for information was made on the 29th anniversary of Dullard’s disappearance. Garda sources said it was hoped the man would have been put under pressure in recent days due to the publicity around the case as the anniversary fell.
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The arrested man was the first person to be detained in connection with Dullard’s disappearance and was being questioned on suspicion of murder. He had been spoken to previously, and witness statements taken from him, although he was never arrested.
Gardaí believe Dullard was taken away from the roadside and killed, perhaps in an attack that was sexually motivated and opportunistic. The man arrested reportedly had a minor injury to his face in the days following the victim’s disappearance.
Detectives believe the arrested man was in the village of Moone, Co Kildare, when Dullard (21) phoned a friend from a call box on the night of November 9th. She was never heard from again.
New evidence has been gathered, and witness statements taken, since the case was upgraded in 2020 from a missing persons inquiry to a murder investigation. Much of the evidence was being put to the arrested man, who has no criminal record, throughout Monday.
He was detained in a pre-planned operation and taken to a Garda station in Kildare. He was being held under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, meaning he can be questioned for up to 24 hours without charge.
As he was being interviewed by detectives, two private homes were searched and lands were cordoned off. The land being searched is located at Ballyhook, Grangecon, Co Wicklow, where the Irish Aviation Authority has imposed temporary restrictions. That is an effective no-fly zone aimed at ensuring drones are not flown above the site while it is being searched.
“This area of land will be searched and subject to excavation, technical and forensic examinations over the coming days,” Supt Paul Burke told members of the media at Naas Garda Station.
The searches were being carried out by the Garda’s Kildare divisional search team, supported by the Garda Technical Bureau and the local Scenes of Crime Unit. The services of a forensic archaeologist are also available to the Garda team if required.
Supt Burke added the family of Dullard had been informed of the operation and had been “fully appraised of all of today’s developments”.
Dullard vanished in Moone shortly after 11.30pm as she was making her way home to Callan, Co Kilkenny. She had been socialising in Bruxelles Bar in Dublin.
She missed the last bus to Callan so got a bus to Naas before hitching two lifts, firstly as far as Kilcullen and then to Moone. At 11.37pm she called a friend, Mary Cullinan, from a phone box in the village to tell her she would be home soon and that a car had just stopped for her. That was the last time anyone heard from her.
At the time she was wearing blue jeans, black boots and a small rucksack. She was also carrying a black Sanyo cassette player and matching headphones. Her disappearance was classified as a murder investigation in 2020, with gardaí concluding she had “met her death through violent means”.
Dullard’s family has maintained a very strong public campaign over the last 29 years, making repeated appeals for information. They are aware of the suspect who was arrested and believe the lands being searched this week should have been examined many years ago.
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