'Time does not heal' says father of Deirdre Jacob with new campaign for information
The devastated father of missing Co Kildare teenager Deirdre Jacob says that after 18 years since her disappearance, 'time does not heal.'
Just weeks before Christmas and with the annual National Missing Persons Day at Farmleigh House, on December 7, Mr Jacob is renewing an appeal for information on his daughter's disappearance. The Serious Crime Review completed a report earlier this year with Kildare based Garda Superintendent Martin Walker at the time, saying, "Nothing new is jumping out at us."
On July 28, 1998, Ms Jacob she left her home at about noon and walked into Newbridge to visit her grandmother. She then went to the AIB in Newbridge to get a bank draft to pay for student accommodation in St Mary’s College, Twickenham, where she was training to be a teacher.
At the bank, she met a person she knew from secondary school and chatted for a while ,then to the Post Office and returned back to her grandmother before setting out on the walk back home. It takes about twenty five minutes to walk to her house from Newbridge. She was last seen at approximately 3.30pm at the gateway to her house in Roseberry, Newbridge. She did not however make it to the doorway of her house and there have been no sightings of her since this.
Mr Jacob is at a loss to understand what happened his daughter. He said: "There were no complications in her life. Everything was running smoothly, her studies were going according to plan. It is on our mind all the time, sometimes it hits in a severe way. It is not just birthdays or at Christmas, it is everyday that she is missing. Time does not heal at all. We are reminded all the time."
Newbridge Lions Club have joined with the Jacob family to launch a new poster campaign in a bid to appeal for information.
Speaking to KildareNow, Mr Jacob said it is 'devastating' how nothing makes sense.
He said: "Our whole life changed on that day. Everyone is at a loss. At least one person knows what happened. We hope that they are in a position to come forward, they should not be afraid."
Sgt Séamus Rothwell recalls how he was based in Newbridge when Deirdre's disappearance took place 18 years ago.
Now based in Bray, Sgt Rothwell has never given up on the case.
He said: "It was a huge shock to the whole community. The case is still open, it is still being investigated. From time to time, we get bits of information, everything we get , we check out. We are continually going back to people, it is an ongoing situation."