22/05/2019

Reward Offered In Search For Disappeared

An anonymous reward of $60,000 has been offered to help in the search for the three remaining bodies of the 'Disappeared'.

The donation, which is equivalent to almost £50,000, has been made in the hope of recovering remains of the three outstanding cases; Belfast man Joe Lynskey, Columba McVeigh from County Tyrone and undercover soldier Robert Niarac.

It is believed they were murdered and buried in secret graves by the IRA during the Troubles. They are the last three outstanding cases of the 16 Disappeared.

The pledge was issued through Crimestoppers and all those who give information will remain anonymous, according to the independent charity. The information will only be used for the recovery of the bodies and not for police investigation.

Fiona McCormack, Director of Operations at Crimestoppers, said: "People giving information can be safe in the knowledge that no one will ever know who they are- not even us. That is a promise we have kept since the charity began more than 30 years ago.

"The Commission is doing an excellent job and to date the remains of 13 of the 16 Disappeared have been recovered. Our reward is not about finding out what happened to these people. The families of those who have yet to be found deserve to be able to hold a long-overdue funeral for their relatives.

"The reward was put up by an anonymous donor and is $20,000 USD for the recovery of each body. It can only be claimed for information that goes directly to us."

Anyone with information can contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or complete an untraceable anonymous online form.

Details will then be passed onto The Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains.



(JG/CM)

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