Josephine 'Jo Jo' Dullard is an Irish woman who disappeared at the age of 21 on 9 November 1995. She was 21 years old at the time of her disappearance. The last confirmed sighting of her was at a public phonebox in Moone, Co. Kildare. Gardaí suspect she is dead and was murdered.[1]
Background edit
Jo Jo was from Callan Co. Kilkenny and had recently returned to the area after working in Dublin for two years. She was due to start a new full-time job as a waitress on the Monday following her disappearance.[2]
Disappearance edit
On the day of her disappearance Jo Jo travelled to Dublin by bus to sign-off social welfare and to collect her final social welfare payment as she was due to begin a new job.[2][3] While in Dublin she went to Bruxelles pub on Grafton Street with friends.[4]
Jo Jo travelled to Busáras bus station at 10pm that night but she missed her bus home to Callan. She then decided to take the bus to Kildare and disembarked at Naas at 10:50pm. She successfully hitched a lift to Kilcullen. At Kilcullen around 11:15pm she hitched a lift to Moone and arrived there at 11:35pm. While at Moone, Jo Jo used a public phonebooth to call a friend to se if she could stay in Carlow and explained how she had missed her bus. Jo Jo interrupted the call and the returned to the phone to say ‘’ she just got a lift’’. Jo Jo then ended the call. She was not seen again.[4][5]
Investigation edit
When Jo Jo failed to return home, her sister Kathleen reported her disappearance 24 hours later. Two days passed before Gardaí took the notification seriously. Gardaí then searched the River Barrow and the road from Moone to Carlow.[5]
Sightings were reported that claimed to have seen Jo Jo at Castledermot around midnight on the night of her disappearance.[6]
In 1997 a witness came forward to say that on the night of the disappearance, he witnessed two men with English accents bundle a woman matching Jo Jo's description into a red car with English licsense plates at Kilmacow. The car was described a being similar to a Ford Sierra Sapphire.[7]
In 2020, a witness said he saw a woman running naked and screaming through Moone on the night of Jo Jo's disappearance.[8] The man stated he was travelling with his boss at the time and his boss left to car to follow Jo Jo but she ran away. The witness stated that his boss then rang the Gardaí from a phonebox and Gardaí stated they would send a car out. After Jo Jo was reported missing they gave a statement to Gardaí but Gardaí believed they had seen a different woman as Jo Jo had been sighted in Castledermot.[9]
Jo Jo's disappearance has been included in Operation Trace, a Garda operation set up in 1998 to investigate cases included under the Vanishing Triangle moniker and to investigate any potential links between them.[10]
In 2019 a priest in Co. Kilkenny received an anonymous letter about Jo Jo Dullard after he publicly appealed for information. The letter was handed over to Gardaí and its contents were not revealed publicly.[11]
The investigation into her disappearance was upgraded to a murder investigation in 2020 following a reinvestigation by the Garda Serious Crime Review Team.[12]
In 2021 a search was conducted a search in woodland in Co. Kildare in relation to the disappearances of Jo Jo Dullard and Deirdre Jacob. Unusual activity in the area on the night of Deirdre Jacob's disappearance led to the search with the Gardaí also noting the Jo Jo Dullard was last sighted a 10-minute drive away from the search area.[13] No evidence was found in the search.[14]
Aftermath edit
Jo Jo's disappearance has been included and discussed in relation with a series of disappearances in Ireland known as Ireland's Vanishing Triangle. This term has been used to describe a series of disappearances of young women in the east of Ireland during the late 1980s and 1990s.
A memorial for Jo Jo was installed in Moone at the site of the phonebox where she was last seen.[15]
Media edit
Jo Jo's disappearance was highly publicised in Ireland and was included in the true crime books Missing by Barry Cummins,[16] Missing, Presumed by Alan Bailey,[17] and The Vanishing Triangle by Claire McGowan.[18]
The 1997 alleged sighting of Jo Jo was reconstructed for the TV show Crimeline.[7] Her disappearance was covered on Crimecall, an Irish television show which seeks public assistance in solving unsolved crimes, in 2020[15] and 2021.[19]
Her disappearance was also featured in the Sky Documentary series Six Silent Killings: Ireland's Vanishing Triangle.[20]
References edit
- ^ "JoJo Dullard 'met her death through violent means', gardaí conclude". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2024-04-18.
- ^ a b "This is now a murder probe - we're quite sure JoJo was killed". Irish Independent. 2020-10-20. Retrieved 2024-04-18.
- ^ Bowers, Shauna (2021-10-11). "The mysterious disappearances of Deirdre Jacob and Jo Jo Dullard". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 2024-04-18.
- ^ a b "Missing Person - JoJo Dullard". Garda. Retrieved 2024-04-18.
- ^ a b "'Alarm bells should have rung straight away'". Irish Examiner. 2005-11-09. Retrieved 2024-04-18.
- ^ "Josephine (Jo Jo) Dullard". Garda. Retrieved 2024-04-18.
- ^ a b "Mew lead in search for Josephine Dullard". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2024-04-18.
- ^ "Trucker saw 'screaming woman running naked' on night of Jo Jo Dullard disappearance". SundayWorld.com. 2024-04-18. Retrieved 2024-04-18.
- ^ "Truck driver tells gardaí he saw woman running 'naked and screaming' through village on the night of Jo Jo Dullard's disappearance". Irish Independent. 2021-10-17. Retrieved 2024-04-18.
- ^ "The myth of Ireland's 'vanishing triangle'". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2024-04-18.
- ^ Vaughan, MaryAnn (2019-11-10). "Kilkenny priest receives anonymous letter after appeal for information on missing JoJo Dullard". KCLR 96FM. Retrieved 2024-04-18.
- ^ Ryan, Órla (2020-10-19). "'A young woman disappeared without a trace': What happened to Jo Jo Dullard?". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 2024-04-18.
- ^ "Search for missing women Deirdre Jacob and Jo Jo Dullard: Detectives focusing on reports of 'unusual activity' in woodland". Irish Independent. 2021-10-11. Retrieved 2024-04-18.
- ^ "Deirdre Jacob case: No evidence found in search operation, Gardaí say". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2024-04-18.
- ^ a b Reynolds, Paul (2020-10-19). "Jo Jo's family 'know in their hearts' she was murdered". RTÉ.ie.
- ^ Cummins, Barry (2010). Missing: Ireland's Disappeared. Gill & Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-7171-4838-7.
- ^ "Author pens missing persons book". Irish Independent. 2014-12-20. Retrieved 2024-04-18.
- ^ "Annie McCarrick, Deirdre Jacob, Fiona Pender... 'There must be witnesses out there'". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2024-04-18.
- ^ Sport, KCLR96FM News & (2016-06-29). "Family of Jo Jo Dullard renew appeal for her whereabouts". KCLR 96FM. Retrieved 2024-04-18.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Disappearances of six women in Ireland's 'Vanishing Triangle' examined in new docuseries". IrishCentral.com. 2023-11-10. Retrieved 2024-04-18.