"We are desperately appealing to people" - Deirdre Jacob's family seeks information
Deirdre Jacob was last seen on 28 July 1998 near her home at Roseberry in Newbridge
Anyone with any information regarding the disappearance of Newbridge student Deirdre Jacob 26 years ago has been urged to come forward.
Deirdre was last seen on 28 July 1998 near her home at Roseberry in Newbridge, at approximately 3pm. She was 18 years old and had just completed one year at St Mary’s University in London. Deirdre had enjoyed her life in London and was looking forward to returning to college that September.
“We’re desperately seeking new information,” her father Michael told the . “There was a huge, huge search of every area around at the time, and a huge amount of questionnaires and interviews and whatever, and that continued over the years, review situations of the case happened several times. But yet there's that little piece – there’s those couple of little blank areas that need filling in, and we are desperately appealing to people.
“Someone who maybe heard something or maybe were in close proximity to something going on, didn't realise at the time it was of any great importance, and maybe allowed the passage of time to pass by and didn't do anything, and then felt that they might be in trouble if they did come forward. But that would not be the case. No matter what length of time goes past, if someone has a piece of information out there, it's vitally important that they would come forward.”
Michael said they have been assured by the gardaí “that anyone that has information and hasn't come forward with it, they would be handled in a very, very sensitive way. The vital thing is to get that piece of information and see where it will fit in with the investigation and all that has been compiled.”
Michael said it may only take “very little information” to fill in the mystery. “That's why we are appealing to anyone who noticed something on the day or around that time in July 1998, if they were conscious of anything, or if they were conscious of anyone acting out of character.”
He added: “Our mission, our thrust, our every day thoughts are to try and find Deirdre and bring her back home. That's what's absolutely vital in our lives now.”
That day, 28 July 1998, Deirdre had walked into Newbridge town to get a bank draft to send to a college friend in London for their rent deposit. At 2.14pm Deirdre is observed on CCTV walking on Main Street Newbridge. At approximately 2.18pm she is observed in the AIB bank getting a £100 bank draft and leaves the bank a short time later.
At 2.26pm Deirdre is seen again on CCTV queuing in the Post Office, and at 2.32pm speaking with a friend outside the Post Office on Main Street. At 2.35pm, the last sighting of Deirdre on CCTV is recorded walking outside the PTSB Bank on Main Street. Deirdre was last seen shortly after 3pm near her family home outside Newbridge.
Deirdre was 5’3” in height, slim build with grey/green eyes and dark chin length hair. When she went missing, she was wearing a navy v neck t-shirt with white trim on the collar and sleeves, navy or black straight jeans and blue Nike runners. Deirdre was carrying a distinctive black satchel type bag with long shoulder straps and the word CAT in large yellow capital letters on the side.
On the 20th anniversary of her disappearance, gardaí confirmed that the missing person investigation had been upgraded to a murder investigation.
“We are confident that there are people out there, maybe certainly one person, who knows something,” Michael said. “Maybe someone who overheard something in the years following 1998, because that happens very often in cases – people will reflect a little bit and maybe talk a little bit more open. And if someone was in that situation and heard a discussion taking place and said 'oh, that's interesting', that's what they should come forward with.
“Sometimes it has happened that someone with a piece of information like that, they've held it for a long while, and they're probably always only too willing to be approached by gardaí, but it takes someone else to point the gardaí in that direction.”
Anyone with information in relation to Deirdre’s murder is asked to please come forward to either the investigation team at Kildare Garda station on 045 527730, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda station.
