The search for a teenager murdered and secretly buried by the IRA 50 years ago has ended in Co Monaghan without success.
Columba McVeigh, who was 19 and from Donaghmore, Co Tyrone, was abducted on October 31st, 1975.
He is one of 17 people known as the Disappeared.
The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains (ICLVR) confirmed it was unable to locate his remains at Bragan Bog near Emyvale, in what it described as “devastating news”.
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The McVeigh family has been informed.
“Our hearts go out to them,” the commission’s lead investigator, Eamonn Henry, said.
Expert teams covered more than 26 acres in what was the seventh search to locate Mr McVeigh’s remains since 1999.
A fresh dig got under way in August.
Mr Henry said the timing of the news was all the more devastating for the family, as it comes so close to the 50th anniversary of Mr McVeigh’s disappearance just over a month ago.
“Everyone involved in the search including the ICLVR investigators, the forensic archaeologists and the contractors who operate the machinery are bitterly disappointed and share the frustration of the McVeigh family that yet another search of the bog has ended in this way,” he added.
“While we continue to believe that the information we are working on has been given in good faith, clearly there is still something missing.”
At an event held to mark International Day of the Disappeared in August, Mr McVeigh’s sister, Dympna Kerr, gathered with families on the vast mountain site to remember their loved ones.
She travelled from her home in St Helens on Merseyside and expressed hope that his body would be found.
“Most of my adult life, Columba has been missing. I hope this is the last time we have to look for him,” she said.
“All we want is to bring him home to rest beside his mum and dad in Donaghmore.”
To date, 13 of the 17 Disappeared victims have been found since the commission was set up by the Irish and UK governments in 1999 as part of the peace process.
Mr McVeigh, former Cistercian monk Joe Lynskey, British army captain Robert Nairac and Seamus Maguire from Co Armagh remain missing.
The commission will “not rest” until “Columba’s remains are returned and he receives the Christian burial that he has been denied for far too long”, Mr Henry said.
“I can assure the McVeigh family and the other families of the Disappeared who give them invaluable support that the commission remains fully committed to finding Columba.”
Anyone with information on any of the four outstanding cases have been urged to contact the ICLVR.
“All information is treated in the strictest confidence,” the commission said.
The ICLVR can be contacted by telephone: +353 1 602 8655. The email address is Secretary@iclvr.ie
Information can also be sent by post to, ICLVR, PO Box 10827.
