Family of missing woman Deirdre Jacob issue appeal on 27th anniversary of her disappearance

The family of missing woman Deirdre Jacob has urged anyone with information about her murder to come forward.

Gardaí are continuing to investigate her disappearance, which occurred 27 years ago this week.

Deirdre was last seen near her home at Roseberry, Newbridge, County Kildare, at around 3pm on July 28, 1998. She was 18 years old at the time and had just completed her first year at St Mary’s University in London.

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Her family is appealing to anyone with knowledge relating to her disappearance to contact the Gardaí.

An incident room remains in place at Kildare Garda Station, and Deirdre’s family — including her parents Michael and Bernadette — are regularly updated through a designated Garda family liaison officer.

On the day she was last seen, Deirdre had walked into Newbridge town to get a bank draft to send to a college friend in London as part of a rent deposit.

At 2:14pm, she was seen on CCTV walking on Main Street, Newbridge. Shortly afterwards, she was observed entering the AIB bank.

By 2:26pm, she was again seen on CCTV queuing inside Newbridge Post Office, and at 2:32pm, she was recorded speaking with a friend outside the Post Office on Main Street.

The last known CCTV footage of Deirdre was captured at 2:35pm, showing her walking outside the PTSB Bank on Newbridge Main Street.

She was last seen by witnesses shortly after 3pm near her family home.

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On the 20th anniversary of her disappearance, An Garda Síochána confirmed that the case had been upgraded from a missing person investigation to a murder investigation.

Deirdre Jacob was 5'3" in height, of slim build, with grey-green eyes and dark chin-length hair.

At the time she went missing, she was wearing a navy v-neck t-shirt with white trim on the collar and sleeves, navy or black straight-leg jeans, and blue Nike runners. She was carrying a distinctive black satchel-type bag with long shoulder straps, featuring the word “CAT” in large yellow capital letters on the side.

This bag has never been located.