Plea to find last seven 'Disappeared'

The top investigator searching for the seven final victims of the co-called Disappeared appealed tonight for the public’s help to bring closure to families.

The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains (ICLVR) admitted that it depended on vital clues to find those abducted and murdered by republican paramilitaries during the Troubles.

Dublin City Coroner’s Court earlier ruled that two men – Charlie Armstrong and Gerard Evans, who had been missing for about 30 years – died by unlawful killing and suffered an unnatural and violent death by a paramilitary organisation.

Both sets of remains were located in bogland last year after investigators received anonymous tip-offs.

Geoff Knupfer, head of the investigation team, , said the ICLVR relied on confidential information from members of the public and paramilitary organisations.

“Any information received by the commission can’t be used in a court of law and can’t be used to prosecute anybody so it can only be used to recover victims,” he said.

“I think the proof of the pudding is in the eating. We’ve now been working in this field for perhaps five or six years and nobody has been prosecuted, nobody’s gone to court and nobody’s been charged with any offences.

“This information, wherever it is, might just be a little titbit that means nothing to the individual concerned but just might be the final piece of the jigsaw we are looking for.

“So it is important if anybody can help us in any way. We would be delighted to hear from them.”

The confidential telephone line from Britain and Ireland is 00800 5558 5500. Information can also be posted to ICLVR, PO BOX 10827, Dublin 2, Ireland.

The IRA admitted in 1999 that it murdered and buried nine of the 16 Disappeared - Seamus Wright, Kevin McKee, Jean McConville, Columba McVeigh, Brendan Megraw, John McClory, Brian McKinney, Eamon Molloy and Danny McElhone – in secret locations.

The bodies of Mr Molloy, Mr McKinney, Mr McClory, Ms McConville and Mr McElhone have been found.

No organisation has claimed responsibility for the killings of Mr Armstrong, Mr Evans or two other victims who remains have been located, including Peter Wilson, who was found at Waterfoot in Co Antrim last November.

The ICLVR was set up by the British and Irish Governments in 1999 and reports to the Northern Ireland Office in Belfast and the Department of Justice in Dublin.

Mr Knupfer, the investigative scientist who helped find the bodies of the victims of Moors Murderers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, was brought in in 2007 to spearhead a new scientific approach to the searches.

This included bringing in an archaeological “time-team”, made up of geophysicists who used ground radar, scanners, probes and cadaver dogs which detect human remains.