Gardaí and family of Deirdre Jacob renew appeal for information 28 years on from disappearance

It has been 28 years since 18-year-old, Deirdre Jacob disappeared from near her home in county Kildare, with gardaí and members of her family renewing their appeal for information.

It has been 28 years since 18-year-old, Deirdre Jacob disappeared from near her home in county Kildare, with gardaí and members of her family renewing their appeal for information.

Ms Jacob was last seen at approximately 3pm on July 28, 1998, in the area of Roseberry, Newbridge.

At the time of her disappearance, Ms Jacob was 18-years-old and had just completed her first year at St Mary’s University in Twickenham, London, where she was studying to become a teacher.

In this latest appeal, she was described as “a young woman starting off her life”, who was enjoying her time in London and was looking forward to returning to college that September.

Eight years ago, on the 20th anniversary of her disappearance An Garda Síochána confirmed that the missing person investigation had been upgraded to a murder investigation.

Ms Jacob would be 46-years-old this year.

CCTV footage 

On the day she went missing, Ms Jacob had walked into Newbridge town to get a bank draft to send to a college friend in London for their rent deposit.

At 2.14pm, she was observed on CCTV walking on Main Street in Newbridge.

At approximately 2.18pm, she was observed in the AIB bank getting the £100 bank draft before leaving a short time later.

Seven minutes later at 2.26pm, she was observed again on CCTV queuing in the post office in Newbridge.

At 2.32pm, she was observed on CCTV speaking with a friend outside the post office and finally, at 2.35pm – the last sighting of Ms Jacob on CCTV – she was recorded walking outside the PTSB Bank on Main Street in Newbridge.

She was last seen shortly after 3pm near her family home in the Roseberry area.

Ms Jacob was approximately 5 foot 3 inches in height with a slim build.

She had grey/green eyes and dark, chin-length hair.

When she went missing, she was wearing a navy, v-neck t-shirt with a white trim on the collar and sleeves, navy or black straight jeans, and blue Nike runners.

She was also carrying a distinctive black satchel type bag with long shoulder straps and the word CAT in large yellow capital letters on the side.

The black satchel bag has never been located.

There has been a 28-year investigation into Ms Jacob’s disappearance, during which significant enquiries have been carried out to establish her whereabouts and to investigate the circumstances in which she disappeared.

Most recently, excavation works were undertaken by An Garda Síochána in part of a disused quarry site at Castleruddery Upper near the Wicklow/Kildare border.

The search of this area, linked to both the disappearances and murders of Deirdre Jacob and JoJo Dullard, took place between June 15 and July 2.

The result of these searches, however, have not been released to the public.

The murder investigation continues to be conducted by detectives attached to the Kildare Divisional Serious Crime Office, under a senior investigating officer.

An incident room remains in place at Newbridge Garda Station and a garda spokesperson said An Garda Síochána regularly update Ms Jacob's parents, Michael and Bernadette, and her family, through a designated family liaison officer.

Ms Jacob's family and the garda investigation team have urged any person or persons with information in relation her murder to please come forward.

An Garda Síochána are reminding the public that if you have information about Ms Jacob's murder, not to assume that they already know it, or that is has limited value.

Anyone with information in relation to this investigation should contact the investigation team at Newbridge Garda Station at [phone], the garda confidential line 1800 666 111, or any garda station.