A search for one of the Disappeared – people abducted and murdered by republicans during the Troubles – is continuing in Bragan, County Monaghan.

Columba McVeigh, 19, from Donaghmore in County Tyrone, was kidnapped and killed by the IRA in 1975. Search teams are concentrating on an area that was planted with trees shortly before the murder. The area, near Emyvale in the north of the county, has been the site of three previous searches for Mr McVeigh.

It is close to the border with counties Tyrone and Fermanagh. Three diggers are working to clear the land and a dog trained to locate bodies is waiting nearby. Investigators have said the search could take up to four weeks and they hope this time it will be successful.

Geoff Knupfer, of the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims Remains (ICLVR), who is leading the investigation said the search was not based on new information. “I think it’s revisited or revised information,” he said.

“We’re looking at an area adjacent to the area we searched in 1999 and 2000 and we did some more work on that same site a couple of years ago. So really what we’re doing is refining what we’ve done previously.”

He said the area was heavily forested with trees planted around the time of the murder. “The forestry authorities have very kindly removed the trees for us and we now have forensic archaeologists and contractors on the site removing the roots one by one so they can be examined,” he said.

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Source: bbc.co.uk

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As the families of the Disappeared completed their fifth annual silent walk, the commission set up to investigate the cases warned time is running out and information is drying up.

Molly Carr, sister of Seamus Ruddy, and Philomena McKee, sister of Kevin McKee, laid a black wreath with seven white lilies at Stormont buildings on Wednesday.

The flowers represent seven bodies that have yet to be recovered, after sixteen people in all were abducted – mostly by the IRA – during the Troubles.

Anne Morgan, whose brother Seamus Ruddy is thought to be buried in France, said she believes the silent walk is very significant for the families.

She said: “Our walk at Stormont each year is a reminder that our plight is ongoing and that every effort needs to be made to bring our loved ones home for Christian burial.”

The Disappeared victims all went missing between 1972 and 1985, and every year the families come to Stormont to bring attention to the search for their loved ones.

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Source: UTV

Annual Silent Walk to be held on Wednesday 2nd November 2011 at Stormont Gov. Buildings N. Ireland at 12 mid-day. The Families of the Disappeared and friends will walk silently from Carson’s monument and place a wreath with 7 white lilies representing the seven bodies that have not been recovered. Everyone welcome.

Two of the so-called “disappeared” had unnatural and violent deaths at the hands of a paramilitary organisation, an inquest found yesterday.

The jury at the Dublin Coroner’s Court returned verdicts of death by unlawful killing by a person or persons unknown at the inquests of Charles Armstrong and Gerard Evans.

The remains of nine of the “disappeared” have been recovered in searches by the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims Remains (ICLVR).

But the remains of a further seven victims have not been found, the ICLVR’s Geoffrey Knupfer said.

The daughter of Mr Armstrong last night appealed for anyone with information to come forward and help other families who, “still haven’t got that peace of mind”.

Speaking outside the court, Anna McShane said she was glad the inquest was over and that it had brought closure. Click here to read more.

Source: The Belfast Telegraph

A body exhumed during a search in June for one of those murdered and secretly buried by the IRA is not one of the Disappeared, DNA results have shown.

The remains were taken from a graveyard in Scotstown in County Monaghan.

The Commission for the Location of Victims said nothing suspicious was found.

Previous digs in the search for 17-year-old Columba McVeigh, from Donaghmore, County Tyrone, have taken place nearby.

Mr McVeigh was abducted and murdered by the IRA in 1975.

The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims Remains (ICLVR) said: “Nothing suspicious or that requires further Garda or ICLVR investigation was discovered during the exhumation or subsequent forensic examination.

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Source: bbc.co.uk

Today (Monday) marks 26 years to the day since Newry man Seamus Ruddy went missing in France. One of the Disappeared, it is believed Mr Ruddy, who was 32 at the time, was
killed by members of the INLA.

Despite two searches in a forest at Point de l’Arche, near Rouen, Seamus’s body has never been found. Ahead of his anniversary, his family have renewed their plea for more information that may help them recover his remains.

Seamus’s sister Anne Morgan, told The Examiner that despite the passing of time, the hope of finding their brother has not diminished.

“As time goes on we have to just wait and hope that someone will give us information.”
She says the family treads very carefully in its appeal for information and says there’s “a very fine line” between petitioning to and causing friction with members of Seamus’s past.

“We know we walk a fine line but if they want to talk to us and give us information then they can do that confidentially and in privacy.  We can then convey that on to the Independent Commission and hope that they will react and maybe carry out another search,” she said.

“At the moment we are waiting on word from one of Seamus’s past associates.  We are just hoping from day to day that he will get back to me and that he will have uncovered something new with regard to the search.”

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Source: Crossmaglen Examiner