Police restart search for missing teen

Police in the North have begun a new search for the body of a Co Tyrone teenager who disappeared after going to a disco in Co Donegal eight years ago.

A forensic scientist and an archaeologist, as well as around 20 police officers, are involved in the search for Arlene Arkinson.

The 15-year-old hasn’t been seen since she travelled to the seaside town of Bundoran for a disco in August 1994.

The new search is focused on a section of Ardmona forest in the Killeter area, close to the teenager’s home in Castlederg.

Police sealed off the area this morning and said the search will last a few days. A spokesman said the decision to carry out the operation was taken following a review of the case and not because of any new information.

Although the girl’s body was never found, a man appeared in court charged with her murder last month.

58-year-old Robert Howard, whose address was given as Belmarsh Prison in England, denied the charge.