2 weeks Ago By Stephen Breen
THE family of missing Sandra Collins have told how a new search for Jo Jo Dullard has given them “renewed hope”. And The Irish Sun on Sunday can reveal Gardai are reviewing new information that they have received about the 29-year-old’s disappearance in recent months. Sandra’s brother Patrick, 37, believes recent efforts to find Jo Jo 29 years after she was last seen alive show how Gardai can “never forget” about Ireland’s missing women .
Investigators believe Sandra was murdered in Killala, Co Mayo , and buried in a shallow grave on December 4, 2000, after telling the chief suspect she was pregnant. Sandra , who Gardai regarded as “vulnerable and naive”, was in a relationship with her killer at the time of her disappearance. And ahead of this week’s 24th anniversary of the mother of one’s murder, Patrick urged any woman who knows the main person of interest to plead with him to give up Sandra’s remains.
He made the appeal after it emerged the chief suspect had returned to Ireland from abroad. Patrick told us: “Sandra thought she was starting a new life with this man but she ended up in a shallow grave. The Gardai are still getting information in and they have to look at everything to rule it in or out.
“We hope the Dullard family get answers. The fact Gardai are still searching shows these types of cases aren’t forgotten. “It will be a quarter of a century next year from when my sister was taken from us.
And far too many members of our family have passed not knowing what happened to her. “I’m appealing to any woman who knows the chief suspect to take him aside and just ask him to tell them where my sister is. “This isn’t about justice or revenge .
We just want to bring Sandra home. I’d ask anyone with information to simply walk in Sandra’s shoes — even for a minute.” Patrick added: “The reason I’ve appealed to the women who know the chief suspect is because, how would they feel if it was their sister, daughter, niece or friend lying in a shallow grave all these years? “How can they have someone like this in their lives knowing the dark secret that this person holds.
“I’m convinced the chief suspect would have shared his knowledge of what happened to Sandra with someone. All they have to do is tell us — even on an anonymous basis. “I’ve said before I’ll shake the hand of someone who ends our pain.
” Sandra’s family are due to meet with Gardai next year as the probe into her murder continues." Patrick said: “We’ll be getting an update in the new year and we’re continuing to do all we can. “It’s hard to believe there are so many young women like Sandra and Jo Jo who were taken from their families in such an appalling way.
“It’s our 24th Christmas without her and we just want her home after all this time — this is the only thing we are interested in. "She would have been 53 on December 14 but the years that she should have had with us were taken from her.” Retired Det Supt Peter O’Boyle — who upgraded the case to a murder inquiry in 2010 — said: “It’s reasonable to expect whoever killed her would have shared this information with friends, family or a loved one.
“It will be 25 years next year since she disappeared and her family just want her home. I hope she’s found so they can give her a Christian burial.” Investigators have re-examined the case and witnesses re-interviewed as part of efforts to solve the mystery.
Former Detective Garda Eddie Naughton, who worked on the case before retiring in 2017, said: “I maintain some of the chief suspect’s friends were holding back information. “And it’s never too late for them to come forward.”.
