New Search For ‘Disappeared’ IRA Victims
A team of experts trying to find the bodies of missing IRA victims in Northern Ireland have recently begun searching a new section of land.
The so-called “disappeared” are people kidnapped, murdered and secretly buried by the IRA during the Troubles.
While six victims have been recovered over the years, nine families are still waiting for a breakthrough in their cases.
The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains is now excavating an area of bog land in County Louth as part of its search for the body of Gerard Evans.
The 24-year-old was last seen trying to hitch a lift home after a night out close to the Northern Ireland border in 1979.
This latest search for Mr Evans is based on anonymous information given to a newspaper by a man claiming to be a member of the IRA gang that killed him.
Such tip-offs are rare despite laws preventing prosecutions being brought against anyone coming forward with information about the murders.
Oliver McVeigh’s brother, Columba, was just 17 when he went missing in Dublin in 1975.
“Surely it should be on people’s conscience to come forward and give whatever details they have. It might be totally insignificant to them but it’s not totally insignificant to the Commission,” Oliver said.
Geoff Knupfer is the chief investigator for the commission trying to find the “disappeared”.
He was also involved in the Moors murders investigation and understands the difficulties involved in trying to solve these kinds of cases decades later.
He said: “Asking people to recount what happened 25-30 years ago in the sort of lands we are talking about, bog lands is very, very difficult indeed. These places were chosen for their anonymity and the nature of them.”
The commission’s work most recent success resulted in the recovery of victim Danny McElhone’s remains a year ago.
His family were finally able to attend his funeral after 27 years of waiting.
The families of all of the “disappeared” say that is the only justice they want: to be able to give their loved ones a proper burial.
Anyone with information about victims can contact the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims Remains confidentially on 00800 5558 5500.
