Parents of Deirdre Jacob still think they see her on the street

Michael and Bernie Jacob - the parents of missing Deirdre Jacob say they have spent the last two decades looking at strangers passing by, thinking they see their daughter in the crowd. The case has been upgraded to a murder investigation following new information. "The reminders like that are daily and they are so powerful. You could be in Newbridge or Dublin or Cork and you would see someone that might look like her," says Michael. Bernie continues: "You know the way her hair was? You would glance. The hair from the back..." she says, her voice breaking. "Even driving down our road, you see a girl walking that maybe might look like Deirdre and you have to look again." Michael describes another fear: "Am I meeting someone going up and down the street that had something to do with this or at least knows something?" Dealing with the trauma is a moment-to-moment struggle. "You can never say for the next hour you are going to be solid. Because it will hit you very hard at a moment's notice. What hits you hard is that you are in a helpless situation and you can't turn the page."   "You have to try and be positive, otherwise it will bring you down," Bernie says determinedly, "It will consume you." In spite of everything they say they still have "a solid faith". Bernie adds: "Lots of people, particularly over the last few days and weeks, are saying they are praying for us. And we want them to know we appreciate all that because we need all the help we can get." Bernie says the couple continue to be driven by the need to find answers. "There were years and months and days when nothing changed so while it has been a very tough week you really feel there is something happening." "It's like a television screen," Michael adds. "You are looking at something and then the screen goes blank. She was there [and then she was gone]. Everything comes down to that. We don't know what happened next."