A search for the remains of Army captain Robert Nairac has ended without success.
Nairac, a 28-year-old Grenadier Guardsman, was abducted from the Three Steps Inn pub in Dromintee, south Armagh, in the early hours of May 15, 1977, killed and secretly buried by the IRA.
At the time, he was working undercover, posing as a republican and using a false name.
While several people were jailed over Nairac’s murder, his remains have never been found.
He became one of the 16 people known as the Disappeared — those killed and secretly buried by paramilitaries during the Troubles.
It is thought his body is buried somewhere just over the border in Co Louth.
The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains (ICLVR) was set up following the Good Friday Agreement, tasked with finding the Disappeared.
To date, four of the Disappeared have yet to be recovered: Seamus Maguire; teenager Columba McVeigh; former monk Joe Lynskey; and Nairac.
Following confidential information received by the ICLVR, investigators began a search for Nairac’s remains on a small plot of farmland in the historic Hill of Faughart area in north Co Louth.
ICLVR joint commissioners Tim Dalton and Rosalie Flanagan have now announced the search has ended without success.
“It is bitterly disappointing that the search for Robert Nairac’s remains has ended without success and our thoughts are with the Nairac family, in particular his sisters Rosemonde and Gabrielle,” they said in a joint statement.
“The investigation and search team did everything they could to bring about a successful outcome, but clearly more information is needed, and we would appeal to anyone who has information to bring it to the commission.
“They can do so in the knowledge that their identity and any information provided will be treated in the strictest confidence.”
The Three Steps Inn pub in Dromintee, south Armagh, from where he was abducted and murdered in May 1977
ICLVR lead investigator Jon Hill appealed for further information to help in the search for Nairac.
“We were searching a relatively small area, less than one acre, and we did so because the information we had was credible,” he said.
“The fact that we haven’t found Robert Nairac’s remains does not change that.
“It is our experience from other searches that, while we have been in the right area, the precise location has not been found first time round.
“There is always a concern that once it is known that we are starting a search in a particular area that it is assumed we have all the information we need and people who could help may think there is no need for them to talk to us.
“Nothing could be further from the truth.
“Anyone who has any information that might help should come forward and as the commissioners have made clear that information and their identity will be treated in the strictest confidence.
“Our sole interest is in returning the remains of Robert Nairac to his family so that he can be laid to rest following a proper funeral.
“Not being able to do that for nearly 50 years is a source of great pain and anguish to his now elderly sisters and the wider family.
“We need to be able to end that suffering.
“Anyone with information on any of the four outstanding Disappeared cases — Joe Lynskey, Columba McVeigh, Robert Nairac and Seamus Maguire — should contact the ICLVR.
“All information is treated in the strictest confidence.”
Captain Rober Nairac: The IRA murder of a maverick
