LAST UPDATE | 12 Nov

A SEARCH IS continuing at the Wicklow border as part of a significant development in the investigation into the disappearance of Jo Jo Dullard almost 30 years ago.

Yesterday, a 55-year-old man was arrested in Co Kildare on suspicion of her murder and two private homes were searched by gardai.

The man is from a well-known family in Wicklow.

A search operation is being carried out on open ground in Co Wicklow near the border with Kildare over the coming days.

The land is being searched and excavated before a technical and forensic examination is carried out, gardaí said.

Jo Jo went missing in 1995 and gardaí upgraded their investigation to a murder investigation in October 2020.

Jo Jo’s family have been campaigning for information since her disappearance 29 years ago.

She was born in Callan, Co Kilkenny, and was 21 years old when she went missing.

She left her home in Callan at 8.30am on 9 November 1995 to travel by bus to Dublin.

She met some friends in Bruxelles Pub on Harry Street, just off Grafton Street, and stayed with them for the afternoon.

Jo Jo went to Busáras bus station at approximately 10pm. She missed the last bus home, so boarded a bus to Kildare instead and arrived in Naas at around 10.50pm.

Jo Jo hitched a lift from a driver in Naas who dropped her off in Kilcullen, Co Kildare, near the edge of the motorway. At about 11.15pm JoJo hitched another lift from here and was dropped off in Moone in Co Kildare at around 11.35pm.

She called her friend from a phone box in Moone and explained that she missed her bus and was going to hitch her way home. She interrupted the conversation briefly and when she returned to the call she told her friend that a car had pulled up and offered her a lift. She was never heard from again.

There were unconfirmed reports of a woman matching Jo Jo’s description being seen in a Toyota Carina-type car that night.

A major search was launched in the days and weeks following her disappearance.

With reporting by PA