GARDAÍ WILL today hand out leaflets in Dublin city centre and Newbridge, Co Kildare, seeking any new information on the disappearance of Deirdre Jacob exactly a decade ago.
Ms Jacob was 18 years old when last seen close to her home in Newbridge on the evening of July 28th, 1998. She disappeared without trace and is one of a number of women who went missing in the Leinster area in the 1990s, and who were the subject of a major Garda operation.
Irish Crimestoppers Trust, an organisation set up in 1998 by the Dublin Chamber of Commerce and An Garda Síochána, said a reward may be offered for any information that significantly helps the Garda in its investigation into Ms Jacob’s disappearance.
Posters and leaflets will be distributed by uniformed gardaí in Newbridge and in the Tara Street area of Dublin today. A woman fitting Ms Jacob’s description was seen around Tara Street on the mornings of July 30th and 31st 1998, according to the Garda.
She is described as being 18 years old, 160cm (5ft 3in) in height, of small build, with a pale complexion and brown or reddish hair, when last seen.
She was wearing blue denim jeans or black trousers, a long-sleeved black jacket with a zipped front, and black-and-white or navy-and-white runners. She was carrying a black bag with CAT written in yellow on the flap.
Supt Kevin Donohoe said the Garda hoped the campaign on the 10th anniversary of Ms Jacob’s disappearance would help jog people’s memories. “Maybe you saw something at the time but dismissed it as unimportant. Any information you have may be significant for the investigation.”
Anyone with information can call Crimestoppers at 1800 250025 or any Garda station.
Ms Jacob’s case was included in a Garda inquiry, Operation Trace, set up in 1999 to investigate any links between the disappearance of a number women in the Leinster area in the 1990s.
They included Annie McCarrick, an American student last seen at Johnnie Fox’s pub in Glencullen, Co Wicklow, in March 1993; Josephine Dullard, who disappeared after phoning a friend from Moone, Co Kildare, in November 1995; Ciara Breen, who disappeared from her Dundalk home in February 1997; and Fiona Sinnott, who went missing from Bridgetown, Co Wexford, in February, 1998.
The group also included Fiona Pender (25), a part-time model and hairdresser, last seen at the apartment she shared with her partner at Church Street, Tullamore, Co Offaly, on August 23rd, 1996.
In May, the Garda searched a wooded area on the Laois-Offaly border after a wooden cross bearing Ms Pender’s name was found in a picnic area. No trace of her remains was found.
Operation Trace has never been formally closed, but no link between any of the cases has been established.