Friday, May 28, 1999 Published at 13:46 GMT 14:46 UK
UK Politics Profiles of the 'disappeared' The victims' bodies are being returned to their families
There is speculation today the first body recovered is that of Eamon Molloy, from the Ardoyne district of North Belfast who disappeared in 1975 after being accused by the IRA of being an informer.
He is one of the nine victims named by the IRA in a statement on 29 March 1999 and whose bodies are expected to be located within 24 hours.
It was claimed Molloy was quartermaster in one of the IRA's three Belfast brigades and that his activities forced the IRA into calling a ceasefire in 1975.
Eamon Molloy's 18-year-old brother Anthony was murdered by loyalist gunmen in Belfast.
The other eight victims are:
Seamus Wright from Belfast: A member of the IRA, he was accused of being a British Army agent and a member of the Military Reaction Force (MRF). He was interrogated and murdered by the IRA in 1972.
Kevin McKee from Belfast: An IRA member, he was alleged to have been an Army agent and member of the MRF. He was interrogated and murdered by the IRA in 1972.
Jean McConville, 37, from Belfast: A mother of 10 from Divis Flats in the city. She disappeared in March 1972 after being abducted from her home by a 12-strong IRA gang. Mrs McConville was born Protestant but converted to Catholicism when she married a Catholic. Some reports suggest she may have been killed after helping a British soldier wounded in an IRA attack in 1972. Her daughter is Helen McKendry who is one of the spokespersons for Families of the Disappeared.
Columba McVeigh, 17, from Donaghmore in Co Tyrone: Abducted and murdered in 1975 by the IRA after allegedly confessing to being an army agent with instructions to infiltrate the IRA.
Brendan McGraw, 24 from Belfast: Allegedly confessed to being a British provocateur and MRF member in 1978.
John McClory, 17, from Belfast: Disappeared in 1978 after allegedly admitting to stealing IRA weapons for use in robberies.
Brian McKinney, 23, from Belfast: Believed to have been killed with John McClory. Both men left their homes in Anderstownstown to go to work in 25 May 1978 but neither arrived. They had both been abducted by the IRA the previous week and questioned about an armed robbery and released. They were then kidnapped a week later. It has been reported they were brought to a block of flats and interrogated.
John McClory attempted to escape and was shot in the back. Brian McKinney - now a witness - was also killed. The RUC, acting on a tip-off, dug up an area near Colin Glen estate in west Belfast at Christmas but nothing was found. The day before the IRA statement, Gerry Adams visited relatives of the men. Mrs Margaret McKinney, mother of Brian, said the first she knew that the IRA had 'executed' the men was when 'people' called to the house on Palm Sunday.
Danny McIlhone, from Belfast: Said by the IRA to have admitted to stealing weapons in 1981.
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