Search begins for Disappeared victim Seamus Maguire
Eimear Flanagan,BBC News NIand Catherine Morrison,in Derryclone
ICLVR
A search has begun for the remains of one of the Disappeared - 29-year-old County Antrim man Seamus Maguire.
The Disappeared is the term used to describe 17 people who were abducted, murdered and secretly buried during the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
Maguire, who was from the village of Aghagallon, near the southeast shore of Lough Neagh, is believed to have been killed in 1976.
The Maguire family said Seamus was "much loved" and hope that he will be found so that he can be buried with their parents.
"Our mum looked for Seamus right up until the day that she died," they added.
A dig organised by the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains (ICLVR) started at nearby Derryclone on Tuesday.
The search for Seamus is centred on a field in farmland in a rural part of County Antrim near Lough Neagh.
Preparatory work is taking place with digging machinery being moved into place.
Investigators are mapping out the field which is about two acres in size - in 20m by 20m grids.
An archaeologist will be on site to view the removal of top soil and if anything unusual is found, more invasive work will be carried out.
This is much more stable ground than in other searches, such as Bragan Bog where investigators have been trying to find the remains of another one of the Disappeared, Columba McVeigh.
There has been no time frame put on this search but it is understood it will take a number of weeks.
'Still missing vital pieces of information'
The ICLVR was set up as part of the Northern Ireland peace process to search for the bodies of the Disappeared.
So far, it has found the remains of 13 of the 17 victims but this will be its first search for Seamus Maguire.
His name was only added to their list four years ago because of a lack of information over his movements in the last years of his life.
"As with other Disappeared cases it was not immediately clear whether or not Seamus Maguire was a missing person case or was the victim of an abduction, murder and secret burial," said the ICLVR's lead investigator, Eamonn Henry.
"It was initially thought that Seamus disappeared sometime around 1973-1974," he explained.
"But it was also subsequently suggested that after spending time in Manchester he may have returned to Northern Ireland and was then killed and secretly buried in the Aghagallon/Derryclone area in 1976 when he was 29.
"Unfortunately there's in excess of 40 years between the time he went missing and when the Commission took on this case so we're missing a large chuck of time and time is very valuable in relation to these cases.
"Whatever the issues around specific dates, we are now satisfied that there is sufficient credible information to commence a search in the Derryclone area."
Henry added that while the Commission did get some information it is "not as much as we need to put all the pieces of the jigsaw together" and they are "still missing vital pieces of information in relation to where these people were buried".
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland said his thoughts are with the Maguire family, who have "endured so many years of anguish".
"I am deeply grateful to the Commission for their unceasing efforts to find the Disappeared, and for their painstaking efforts to help ease these families' long suffering," said Hilary Benn.
"As well as the Maguire family, the families of Columba McVeigh, Joseph Lynskey and Robert Nairac still await the return of their loved ones' remains."
He urged anyone with information to come forward and speak to the Commission.
Two acre section of farmland
Maguire has been treated as one of the Disappeared since 2022, on the basis of information received from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).
It is believed republican paramilitaries may have been involved in his death, although it's not clear which organisation was responsible.
Henry said the search area they will focus on is a section of farmland which stretches to about two acres, but added the ICLVR will not put a timeline on the operation.
"As with all our searches we will be there until we find what we are looking for or are satisfied that Seamus Maguire is not there."
"If you put yourself in her shoes, can you imagine the anxiety, the stress, the hurt that she incurred in looking for her son right up to her dying day – put your own mother in that, would you like your own mother to be going through this?"
He said when searches are unsuccessful it is "devastating" for him and his team.
"It really does crush the team but that's minuscule compared to the anxiety and the stress for the families."
Henry reiterated the the ICLVR is keen to hear from members of the public who may know what happened to the missing man.
"There may be an assumption that because a search is underway the commission has all the information we need. That is not necessarily the case," he said.
"If there is anyone who has any information on this case please get it to us.
All information is treated in the strictest confidence and our sole purpose is to return the remains of a loved one to their family for a Christian burial".
Maguire is one of four of the Disappeared who are still missing.
The others are Joe Lynskey, Columba McVeigh and Robert Nairac.