The search will take place in an isolated, wooded area in Kildare.
The Gardaí are mounting a search operation today in relation to a series of suspected murders and missing person cases from the 1990s, the Irish Times reports.
Between 1990 and 1993, eight women went missing along the borders of the Leinster region. The eight women are Annie McCarrick, Eva Brennan, Imelda Keenan, Jo Jo Dullard, Ciara Breen, Fiona Pender, Fiona Sinnott and Deirdre Jacob. It’s understood that Gardaí believe that some of the women may have been abducted and murdered by the same individual.
Today, Gardaí will search large isolated areas of woodland in Kildare. The search has been prompted by new intelligence received by detectives in relation to Deirdre Jacob who went missing on 28 July 1998.
The 18-year-old was walking home to Newbridge in Co. Kildare when she disappeared.
According to The Irish Times, a witness is understood to have come forward claiming that they saw someone behaving strangely in the woodland area following Ms Jacob’s disappearance.
Several years ago, the convicted rapist Larry Murphy was linked to the disappearance of Ms Jacob. One of his former cellmates alleged that the Wicklow man confessed to murdering Deirdre, however the investigation has never been able to place Murphy in Newbridge on the day the young woman went missing.
The Gardaí also believe that evidence in relation to the other missing women may be found during the search operation.
Just three years ago, Ms Jacob’s case was upgraded from a disappearance to a murder investigation after it was reviewed by the Serious Crime Review Team with the National Bureau of Investigation.
It is also understood that Gardaí are looking into new leads in relation to the disappearance of Jo Jo Dullard. The 21-year-old was last seen at a phonebox in Moone, Co. Kildare on 9 November 1995. Ms Dullard had missed her last bus home and got a lift part of the way there. However, she never made it all the way to her home in Callan. Earlier this year, her case was upgraded to a murder inquiry.
