Diggers continue search over Jo Jo Dullard and Deirdre Jacob murders

A search relating to the murders of Jo Jo Dullard and Deirdre Jacob in the 1990s have continued for a fourth day.

Two excavators are being used to dig up earth in an area of open ground in Co Wicklow near the border with Co Kildare.

An Garda Siochana said the area will be searched and subject to excavation, technical and forensic examinations over several days.

On Thursday, the excavators worked to heap up soil in large piles under the watch of investigating gardai.

The search operation is being led by the serious crime review team.

Josephine “Jo Jo” Dullard went missing on November 9 1995 while on her way home to Callan in Co Kilkenny after socialising in Bruxelles bar on Dublin’s Harry Street.

The 21-year-old missed her last bus to Kilkenny and instead boarded a 10pm bus to Naas, Co Kildare, intending to hitchhike the rest of the way home.

She hitched a lift from Naas to the slip road on the M9 motorway at Kilcullen, Co Kildare, and at 11.15pm got another lift to Moone.

There, Ms Dullard called her friend Mary Cullinan at 11.37pm from a phone box.

During that call, Ms Dullard told Ms Cullinan that a car had stopped for her and she was going to take the lift.

Ms Jacob was last seen near her home at Roseberry, Newbridge, in Co Kildare at around 3pm on July 28 1998.

She was 18 at the time of her disappearance and had just completed one year at St Mary’s University in London.

On the day she was last seen, 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, Newbridge, and shortly after was observed in the AIB bank.

At 2.26pm, Ms Jacob was observed again on CCTV queuing in the Newbridge Post Office and at 2.32pm was seen on CCTV speaking with a friend outside the Post Office on Main Street.

The last-known recording of Ms Jacob on CCTV was recorded at 2.35pm, walking outside the PTSB Bank on Main Street.

She was last seen shortly after 3pm near her family home.