Human remains not Columba McVeigh
Human remains exhumed from a cemetery in Co Monaghan do not belong to one of the Disappeared victims, it has emerged.
Forensic tests were carried out on a body which was removed from a grave at Scotstown at the end of June during a search for Columba McVeigh.
The 17-year-old from Donaghmore, Co Tyrone was abducted and murdered by the IRA in October 1975.
Despite extensive searches in Co Monaghan, his remains have yet to be found.
His mother had campaigned tirelessly on her son’s case before her death in 2007.
The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims Remains confirmed that the results of a DNA examination indicated that the remains recovered from the grave are not related to any of ‘The Disappeared‘.
A statement said: “Nothing suspicious or that requires further Garda or ICLVR investigation was discovered during the exhumation or subsequent forensic examination.”
“The remains removed will be re-interred in due course.”
The search was launched after Father Joe McVeigh, a Fermanagh priest informed authorities that he had a received a tip-off about a secret burial in Co Monaghan.
In 1999 the IRA admitted it had killed and secretly buried nine of the 16 Disappeared, while the INLA has been linked to one of the deaths.
