Missing woman's family have lost faith in gardaí

A SISTER of missing woman Jo Jo Dullard yesterday said she had "lost complete confidence" in the gardaí.

On the 10th anniversary of Jo Jo's sinister disappearance, Mary Phelan said she had been repeatedly let down by the force.

Josephine Dullard was aged 21 when she vanished in the small Co Kildare town of Moone on November 9, 1995.

"I'm very unhappy at the way Jo Jo's case was handled from day one," said Ms Phelan. "I have lost complete confidence in the gardaí. I'm absolutely disgusted."

She said she had a meeting with Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy and two senior gardaí in Garda Headquarters last April to discuss the case.

"We got nothing from that meeting. We wanted him to explain things regarding the case. He said 'we're on the case now', but nothing else."

She said the commissioner made a commitment to contact her and Fianna Fáil TD John McGuinness, who accompanied Mary and her husband Martin.

"'We will contact you', he said, but no one has rung me, the same as day one," said Ms Phelan.

Deputy McGuinness said: "The commissioner gave a commitment that day that he would keep me and the Phelans briefed on a regular basis. I haven't had one phone call from him since, not a dicky bird."

Ms Phelan said she had sought over the last 10 years to have one officer assigned to contact her, but without success. She said that, two years ago, an officer from Garda Headquarters had a lengthy conversation with her and took detailed notes, but she had not heard from him since.

Ms Phelan was very critical of the failure of gardaí to search the land of a suspect she believes is responsible for her sister's murder.

She has repeatedly called for gardaí to be trained in the US in how to deal with missing persons cases and for the establishment of a dedicated missing persons unit.

A garda spokesman confirmed the Garda Commissioner did say he would keep in touch with the Phelans and "appraise them of any developments."

He said the only development was the launch of a public awareness campaign in relation to six missing women - including Jo Jo - which is due to happen today. He said they contacted Ms Phelan about this a couple of weeks ago. Ms Phelan confirmed the call did take place, but said no one came back and talked to her about the case.

The garda spokesman said the meeting was "open and honest" and that gardaí explained their investigation. He said gardaí were satisfied that all areas that should have been searched had been searched. He said officers had been trained by the FBI and that the force was "up to speed with international best practice."

The spokesman said the commissioner had looked at the idea of a missing persons unit, but felt that local senior officers were the best experts, assisted by national units and the recently established missing persons bureau, a support agency.