Man arrested in connection with murder of Jo Jo Dullard due to be ...
A man being questioned in relation to the murder of Jo Jo Dullard is due to be released from garda custody in the early afternoon, after his 24 hours of detention runs out.
Searches on land straddling the Kildare/Wicklow border resumed on Tuesday morning and are expected to continue for a number of days, gardaí say. The land being searched is located at Ballyhook, Grangecon, Co Wicklow.
The arrest on Monday is the first arrest in the long-running investigation, which was upgraded from a missing person probe to a murder inquiry in 2020.
The man, aged in his 50s, is from the Kildare/Wicklow area. He had previous interactions with investigating gardaí and voluntarily gave statements to assist their inquiry.
While it was initially thought that gardaí had gathered significant evidence against the suspect, to prompt his arrest, it has emerged that detectives have separate pieces of information they want to put to him.
It was also thought that the 29th anniversary of the disappearance of the 21-year-old Kilkenny woman, along with a renewed public appeal for information and interviews by sisters of Ms Dullard, that the suspect might be under some strain.
In addition, gardaí hoped that searches of two properties and searches of lands will have put the suspect under added pressure.
It is understood that the investigation team received “new information” regarding a location where there might be evidence regarding Ms Dullard or the suspect. This information was assessed by the team, which recommended to Garda superiors that a search be carried out.
Garda management agreed and authorised the search, which, along with the Kildare divisional search team and the divisional scenes of crime team, also involved the Garda Technical Bureau. Sources said “concentrated searches” were being conducted on what is a large property.
At a press conference at Naas Garda Station on Monday, Superintendent Paul Burke said the searches would involve excavation and technical and forensic examinations.
It is not yet clear what, if anything, was been removed from the site. Items or possible evidence found will be subject to a range of tests.
Ms Dullard, from Callan, Co Kilkenny, went missing on November 9, 1995, after spending an evening socialising in Dublin. She missed her last bus home to Kilkenny and instead got a 10pm bus to Naas, Co Kildare.
From there she hitch-hiked, getting a lift to Kilcullen and then to Moone. From a phone box in Moone she rang a friend, ending the conversation to say she had a lift. She was not seen or heard from after that.
