Northern Ireland

Sister of Disappeared man 'hoping and praying' as fresh search for body begins

A fresh ICLVR search operation in a forest in France began yesterday for the body of Disappeared Seamus Ruddy <br />PICTURE: Commissioner for Recovery of Victims Remains/PA
A fresh ICLVR search operation in a forest in France began yesterday for the body of Disappeared Seamus Ruddy
PICTURE: Commissioner for Recovery of Victims Remains/PA
A fresh ICLVR search operation in a forest in France began yesterday for the body of Disappeared Seamus Ruddy
PICTURE: Commissioner for Recovery of Victims Remains/PA

THE sister of Disappeared man Seamus Ruddy is hoping that his body will be found as fresh searches began in a forest in France yesterday.

Mr Ruddy's sister Anne Morgan said: "Seamus disappeared almost exactly 32 years ago on May 9 1985.

The school teacher, from Newry, Co Down, was abducted, murdered and secretly buried by the INLA in Paris.

"All we can do is what we have been doing over these long years since, which is to pray that one day he'll be found," she said.

"Hopefully that day will come as a result of this search."

The Disappeared are those who were abducted, murdered and secretly buried by republicans during the Troubles.

There have been three previous searches for Mr Ruddy's body, the most recent by the Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains (ICLVR) in 2008.

The fresh search for his remains began in a forest at Pont-de-l'Arche outside Rouen, the commission set up to locate victims' remains has confirmed.

Geoff Knupfer, the former police officer leading the hunt, said he was satisfied the information received by the ICLVR about the location of Mr Ruddy's remains is "as accurate as it can be given the passage of time".

Despite extensive and painstaking searches, the bodies of four out of 16 people listed by the commission have never been found.

In addition to Mr Ruddy, the remains of Columba McVeigh, Joe Lynskey and Robert Nairac have yet to be recovered.

"All we want is to bring Seamus home to Monk's Hill to be buried with our mother and father," Ms Morgan said.

The commission has asked anyone with information to contact them in complete confidence on 00800 555 85500, by writing to ICLVR, PO Box 10827, Dublin 2, or via the website www.iclvr.ie