Published: Wednesday, 4th August, 2010 4:59pm

Bog searches continue near Wilkinstown for 'Disappeared'

by Paul Murphy

Pic by==: 97

The discovery of the remains believed to be those of Charlie Armstrong in a Monaghan bog last Thursday has given new hope to the families of two more of 'The Disappeared', Seamus Wright and Kevin McKee, whose bodies are reported to have been buried at Coghalstown bog, Wilkinstown, and where a search was still continuing this week.

The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains confirmed yesterday (Tuesday) that the search for the bodies of the two 25 year-olds was still in progress at Wilkinstown.

A new search for the two Belfast men murdered by the IRA got underway early last year when the commission decided on a fresh initiative in the long campaign to recover the bodies.

Commission officials, including Detective Superintendent Geoff Knupler, who worked on the infamous Moors Murders investigation in England, Detective Inspector Jon Hill, who has worked with the Metropolitan Police in London, and Detective Inspector Jody Crowe of An Garda Siochana embarked on a new search at Coghalstown bog, where the two Belfast men are believed by local people to have been secretly buried after they were murdered in 1972. They both disappeared from their homes and were never seen again.

A major search got underway at at Coghalstown, just off the Ladyrath-Rathkenny Road at Wilkinstown in 2009. A field in a bog laneway just off the road was pegged out by the commission personnel and large areas of trees and undergrowth were cleared as the search went on.

The Coghalstown site had already been investigated when Gardai organised digs at Wilkinstown, and at Oristown where the body of Brendan McGraw, another of 'The Disappeared', was believed to have been buried. The two searches ended in May 2000 with no indication that the bodies were buried there. However, a completely new search was started in March of last year and has been continuing since then.

A spokesperson for the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains said yesterday (Tuesday) that the search in Meath was continuing. It added that there was no further information available at this time.

Meanwhile, the family of Mr Armstrong was maintaining an emotional vigil at a desolate bogland location in Co Monaghan where the excavation of remains was taking place. Skeletal remains found last Thursday are believed to be those of Mr Armstrong, who went missing in 1981. He is believed to have been murdered by the Provisional IRA.

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