FRESH searches have been carried out for the body of missing Co Down woman Lisa Dorrian.
The 25-year-old was last seen at a party at a caravan site in Ballyhalbert on the Ards peninsula in February 2005.
Police confirmed last night that new searches have started at the site where she was last seen alive and a disused airfield as part of a “large scale search operation”.
They say more searches will be carried out in the coming days.
The missing woman’s mother Pat (59) died in 2015 without knowing what had happened to her daughter.
Various searches carried out over the years have failed to find her remains.
Detective Superintendent Jason Murphy outlined the reasons for the latest operation.
“The purpose of the search operation is two-fold - firstly I want to recover Lisa’s body and allow the Dorrian family to finally put Lisa to rest,” he said.
“And secondly I am looking for evidence relating to her disappearance.”
Det Supt Jason Murphy from the Major Investigation Team is with Lisa Dorrian’s family at the scene of searches taking place in Ballyhalbert today. Lisa has been missing since 2005. pic.twitter.com/7sVGyo6BAn
— PSNI (@PoliceServiceNI) April 2, 2019
Meanwhile, police recovered the body of a woman from Carrickfergus Marina on Sunday afternoon.
A spokeswoman said the death is not being treated as suspicious and a postmortem examination will be carried out.
