Gardaí investigating the disappearance of Jo Jo Dullard nearly 30 years ago will continue to search an area of open land in County Wicklow today.

It comes after a 55-year-old man was yesterday arrested on suspicion of murdering the Kilkenny woman.

He is the first person to be arrested in the 29-year investigation and is being questioned at a Garda station in County Kildare.

It is understood he was one of the last people to have contact with the 21-year-old on the night she disappeared.

Gardai have spoken with him in the past; however, they decided to formally arrest him yesterday.

They have 24 hours to question him with pauses for breaks, meaning he must be either charged or released today.

File photo of the Phone Box where Jo Jo Dullard made her last call before she went missing in the village of Moone, County Kildare, 07-08-2007. Image: Eamonn Farrell/RollingNews

Josephine ‘Jo Jo’ Dullard was last seen on November 9th, 1995, as she made her way home from a night out in Dublin.

The 21-year-old missed the last bus to Kilkenny and instead got a bus to Naas in Kildare in the hope of hitchhiking the rest of the way.

A splitscreen showing Jo Jo Dullard and a memorial plaque.

After hitching two lifts from Naas to Moone in County Kildare, she phoned her friend and told her that another car had stopped and she was going to take the lift.

That was the last time her family or friends heard from her.

Gardaí carry out searches for Jo Jo Dullard in the Ballyhook area of Grangecon in County Wicklow, 11-11-2024. Image: Eamonn Farrell/RollingNews

Yesterday, Gardaí searching for any trace of the missing 21-year-old began combing through a remote piece of land in County Wicklow, near the Kildare border.

The land near Grangecon will be searched and excavated over the coming days with technical and forensic examinations in the coming days.

The air space above the site is being temporarily restricted and a forensic archaeologist is on-site to help with the search.

Separately, Gardaí also searched two private homes this morning.

Investigators are continuing to appeal for witnesses and for anyone with any information on Ms Dullard’s appearance to contact them.

Additional reporting from Stephanie Rohan.