'Disappeared' man search resumes

Gerry Evans was last seen hitch-hiking more than 30 years ago

A search operation to find the remains of one of the so-called "Disappeared" is continuing on Tuesday.

Forensic archaeologists and geophysicists are marking "hot spots" in the Louth-Armagh border area.

On Monday, an expert involved in the hunt for 24-year-old Gerry Evans' body said it was going to be a particularly difficult operation.

Mr Evans, from Crossmaglen, was last seen hitching a lift in County Monaghan in March 1979.

No-one has admitted responsibility for his death.

It had been claimed he was shot by the IRA as a suspected informer.

Preparation of the site at a peat bog has been going on for months. About two miles of drains had to be cut or cleared.

The "hot spots" being marked out are areas which scientists consider show signs of disturbance.

One expert said bogs were "just about one of the most difficult terrains" in which to do this work.

The Independent Commission for the Recovery of Victims' Remains has stressed that this is the continuation of a long process and is likely to take some time.

The searches began on the day that a new law to help relatives of missing people came into effect.

Death Act

The Presumption of Death Act allows the High Court to declare a missing person as "presumed dead".

It will allow the families to receive a certificate of presumed death in order to settle the affairs of their loved ones.

Applications can be made if there is evidence the person is likely to have died or if they have not been seen alive for at least seven years.

The IRA admitted in 1999 that it murdered and buried at secret locations nine of the "Disappeared", but has not admitted its role in the other murders. Five bodies have so far been found.

Earlier this year, investigators looking for the remains of Mr Evans drained a stretch of bogland in County Louth.

Signs appealing for information were also erected on the approach roads to Crossmaglen.

Last month, the commission said it was investigating the 1973 disappearance of west Belfast man Peter Wilson.

It is reported the 21-year-old may have been abducted and murdered by the IRA.

The inclusion of Mr Wilson on the list of the "Disappeared" would bring to 14 the number of people abducted and murdered in secret by republicans, all but one of them by the IRA.