Scotland Yard aid sought in Jo Jo probe

DETECTIVES who headed the investigation into the missing British schoolgirls, Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells, have been asked to examine the case of disappeared Kilkenny woman, Jo Jo Dullard.

Jo Jo's sister, Mary Phelan, is also planning to meet FBI missing persons experts when she travels to the United States next week.

Mrs Phelan, a vocal campaigner for a dedicated Garda missing person's unit, is organising the road trips as part of the campaign to force the Garda Commissioner to set up a special unit.

Jo Jo, 21 at the time, went missing more than seven years ago. Her case was one of seven revisited unsuccessfully by gardaí in Operation Trace.

Mary Phelan, along with husband Martin and Kilkenny Fianna Fáil TD John McGuinness will travel to New York and Washington next week. They will meet with FBI officers, criminal justice experts, victims' advocates and politicians, including veteran senator Ted Kennedy. Mrs Phelan revealed plans to travel to London to meet at New Scotland Yard with the detectives who led the investigation into the missing Soham teenagers.

"It's very, very badly needed. They should have specific training and expertise so that when a person goes missing, they will know how to react," said Mrs Phelan. Other jurisdictions have officers trained quickly to evaluate whether a disappearance is sinister or whether someone has left home of their own accord. In the critical first hours, a decision is made whether the disappearance is suspicious enough to warrant an investigation equal to a murder inquiry.

Fr Aquinas Duffy, whose ground-breaking website helped drive public debate on the mystery of Ireland's missing, backs the proposal for a specialised unit. Fr Duffy, whose nephew went missing three years ago, said: "The FBI, in some cases from day one, are treating the disappearance as suspicious." In Ireland, he said, there is a quick look for a missing person, but it's not as serious as a murder investigation. If someone has been abducted and murdered, Fr Duffy said, it's "almost the perfect crime."

The Tallaght-based priest said: "People have just disappeared coming out of pubs or walking the streets and there's no explanation. This certainly demands answers. It's kind of scary."

Fr Duffy's website www.missing.ws

Jo Jo Dullard Memorial Trust Acc no: 01442055; Sort Code: 93 30 90