Kildare investigation begins after 'unusual activity' reported on evening of Deirdre Jacob's disappearance 

Gardaí pictured searching a wooded area at Taggartstown near Kilcullen Co Kildare this morning. Picture: Colin Keegan/Collins Dublin

New information about "unusual activity" on the evening of Deirdre Jacob's disappearance has prompted a three-week long search of a Co Kildare site, gardaí have said.

Gardaí have begun to search woodlands in Taggartstown, Co Kildare in relation to missing women in the Leinster region from the 1990s.

Deirdre Jacob (L) went missing in 1998 while Jo Jo Dullard (R) disappeared in 1995

Inspector John Fitzgerald, of Kildare Garda Station, told a press briefing this morning that there was unusual activity noticed in the wood on the evening Ms Jacob was last seen.

He said while the focus was on Ms Jacob’s disappearance, gardaí are conscious that other women disappeared in the area around the same time and will keep an open mind of that throughout the process.

The search is expected to last up to three weeks and will cover an area of around four acres, Inspector Fitzgerald added.

Missing women cases

The area, all in Kildare but along the border with Wicklow, is a brief drive from the landmark Walls pub in Kilgowan, some 8km south of Kilcullen.

Gardaí said the search site is in a location with limited road access.

Last night a garda source told the Irish Examiner that the search area identified was based on intelligence gathered by gardaí that there may be evidence there in relation to the missing women cases.

Gardaí have launched an updated investigation into the disappearance of women in Leinster including Deirdre Jacob and Jo Jo Dullard.

“The purpose of the search is to find remains and until we find them and they are examined we are not pinpointing any one of the investigations,” said the garda source.

The source said there was a possibility more than one set of remains, linked to separate cases, could be found. 

But it is also possible no remains are discovered, either because there are none or, because the site is so large, they aren't found.

Specialist search teams will operate in a methodical fashion over an area described by sources as "substantial" in size.

There has been significant progress made in the case of Deirdre Jacob and has included appeals based on specific information gathered.

The search was launched after new information was received about "unusual activity" in the area on the night of Deirdre Jacob's disappearance.

Ms Jacob was aged 18 when she vanished in July 1998 outside her home in Newbridge, some 14km away from Kilgowan.

Numerous searches have been conducted before, but no remains have been found, as with all of the eight missing women cases.

One case is that of Josephine 'Jo Jo' Dullard, last seen in Moone, Co Kildare, on 9 November 1995.