'Did you give a lift to a hitchhiker?' - appeal over 1995 Jo Jo Dullard disappearance

Josephine “Jo Jo” Dullard was last seen on 9 November 1995

Gardaí (Irish police) have made a new appeal for information over the disappearance of a woman 30 years ago.

Josephine "Jo Jo" Dullard, 21, went missing from Moone in County Kildare on the 9 November 1995.

The case was upgraded from a missing persons to a murder inquiry in 2020.

Gardaí is asking for "anyone that met, saw, or has any information in relation to the murder of Josephine" to come forward.

In a statement, it said: "Did you give a lift to a hitchhiker" in the Moone area.

Gardaí also want anyone who was hitchhiking in the area to contact them.

"Jo Jo's family have now suffered from her disappearance for 30 years," gardaí added in a statement.

It also asked for anyone who previously came forward but "who felt they could not provide gardaí with all the information they had in relation to this matter, to contact the investigation team again".

What happened to Jo Jo Dullard?

Ms Dullard's sister reported her missing on 10 November 1995

On 9 November 1995, Ms Dullard travelled to Dublin, where she spent the evening at Bruxelles Bar on Harry Street, just off Grafton Street.

That evening, she missed her last bus home to Kilkenny and, at 22:00 local time, boarded a bus to Naas in County Kildare, intending to hitchhike home to Callan.

Ms Dullard hitched a lift from Naas to the slip road on the M9 motorway at Kilcullen.

At about 23:15 she got another lift to the village of Moone, about an hour's drive from her home town.

Once in Moone, at 23:37, Ms Dullard made a phone call to her friend, Mary Cullinan.

During the call she told Ms Cullinan a car had stopped to offer her a ride and she was planning to accept it.

This was the last known interaction she had with anyone.

The following morning, on 10 November 1995, she was reported missing by her sister, Kathleen.

Jo Jo had her Sanyo stereo cassette player (model MGP21) with her at the time of her disappearance.

How has the police investigation progressed?

The investigation into Ms Dullard's disappearance was upgraded to murder in 2020

For 30 years Ms Dullard’s disappearance has been the subject of a police investigation.

Her sister, Mary Phelan, campaigned relentlessly over the years.

In 2008, the Crimestoppers Trust, Ireland’s national freephone crime fighting service, announced it was offering a €10,000 reward for information to assist gardaí in their ongoing investigation into what happened on the night of Ms Dullard’s disappearance.

Her case was also highlighted on RTÉ’s Crimecall programme on numerous occasions over the years.

On 19 October 2020, almost 25 years on from her disappearance, An Garda Síochána announced it was upgrading the case to that of murder.

Announcing the upgraded investigation, An Garda Síochána said it was “satisfied that serious harm” came to Ms Dullard on the night of 9 November 1995.

At the time, gardaí said it was "another traumatic day for Jo Jo's family as her case is publicly confirmed to be now an active murder investigation.”

A man who was arrested in connection with the disappearance was released without charge in November 2024.

Police resumed searches along the border of Counties Wicklow and Kildare last year but these have since stopped