Unseen Deirdre Jacob pics as parents plead ‘tell us where she is’ and ex-garda says Larry Murphy ‘never ruled out’

THE heartbroken parents of Deirdre Jacob have released new images of their daughter and pleaded: “Please tell us where she is.”

Dad Michael and mum Bernadette provided the previously unseen pics to The Irish Sun ahead of the 28th anniversary of the 18-year-old’s disappearance on Tuesday.

One of the images is from Deirdre’s 12th birthday while the other was taken two years before she vanished on July 28, 1998.

They hope the two snaps will remind those who have information on the teen’s murder as to what her family have lost.

The images have been released after the family met with the Garda Serious Crime Review Team last week after a recent search for the missing teenager at a quarry in Co Wicklow ended.

Ahead of the painful 28th anniversary, Deirdre’s dad hopes the new images will encourage anyone with information to come forward.

He told us: “We are desperate for people to look at these images of our beautiful daughter, search their conscience and finally come forward.

“Our priority throughout these last 28 years has been to find Deirdre and bring her home. This priority will never change for us.

“The pictures we have released are precious to us and they show a young girl who had a bright future ahead of her and was so full of life.

“We know there are people still out there who have information and all we are asking them to do is to take a second, look at the images and try and imagine what our family has endured for almost 30 years.

“If we find Deirdre then we know that peace will be brought to everyone concerned.”

Deirdre was last seen near her home in Newbridge, Co Kildare.

It was classified as a missing persons case but was upgraded to murder in 2018 after Gardai failed to establish any “proof of life”.

Over the years, cops have followed 3,500 lines of inquiry and conducted numerous searches but have been unable to find Deirdre.

Notorious rapist Larry Murphy, 60, who is now living in London, remains a “person of interest” in the ongoing investigation.

Ahead of next week’s anniversary, retired Garda Sgt Seamus Rothwell, who was the Family Liaison Officer to the family between 1998 and 2023, also spoke exclusively to The Irish Sun about the mystery.

And Rothwell, 62, who retired after 40 years service, challenged Murphy to engage with the Garda investigation team.

He made the call after Gardai previously travelled to London to meet with Murphy but he told them “f*** away off” if he was not being arrested.

A file on Murphy’s alleged involvement in the disappearance was sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

But they ruled in 2022 there was not enough evidence to bring any charges.

Murphy emerged as a suspect in Deirdre’s disappearance because of his conviction for rape, the fact he was working in the area at the time, his resemblance to a man captured on CCTV and because he had not answered his phone on two occasions when he was contacted by an estate agent after the teen’s disappearance.

We also confronted the sex beast about the claims in 2013 but he refused to answer our questions.

Former officer Rothwell said: “If Larry Murphy has information about this awful crime then I would encourage him to come forward. We have never ruled him out in this investigation.

“He has never engaged with Gardai and if he is innocent he can exonerate himself.”

He added: “I continue to hope that Deirdre can be found after all these years — her parents are lovely people and they deserve to have their daughter back.

“I can’t imagine being in their shoes and it’s hard to believe it’s nearly 30 years.

“The pain is never ending for them and they just want to find their daughter.”

The ex-Sgt also said: “I would also absolutely meet anyone at any location if I thought it could provide a breakthrough in the case.

“The Garda confidential line is also a great way for people to leave information on an anonymous basis and it will be acted upon.

“People can also go to a priest or leave an anonymous letter and if they look at those new images of Deirdre they will see a young girl who was so full of life.

“It will never be too late for people to come forward so that Deirdre can finally be found.

“I never thought that 28 years after she disappeared her parents would still be searching for her.”

As the Garda probe continues, dad Michael said: “Next week will be 28 years and hopefully that number might resonate with people who have yet to come forward with information.

“Even the slightest bit of information could help us find Deirdre.

“We have lost so much over the last 28 years and Deirdre has missed out on so much and we just want to locate her.”