Search for IRA murder victim Columba McVeigh begins

THE FORENSIC scientist leading the search in Co Monaghan for the remains of one of the Disappeared, Columba McVeigh, has appealed for anyone with even the most “trivial” information to come forward. Geoff Knupfer, who in the 1980s was involved in the search for two of the victims of Moors murderers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, yesterday began overseeing “painstaking work” to find the remains of Mr McVeigh, who was abducted, murdered and secretly buried by the IRA in 1975. Forestry workers last week cut down and cleared away trees at Bragan, Co Monaghan, where Mr McVeigh, who was 17 when he disappeared, may have been buried. Yesterday Mr Knupfer, chief investigator of the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains, led specialist workers as they began clearing away the tree roots in their efforts to find the remains of Mr McVeigh. He said up to a dozen members of the IRA may have been involved in the abduction, interrogation, murder and burial of Mr McVeigh, who was from Donaghmore in Co Tyrone. He urged anyone with information to bring it to the commission. “I would appeal to anyone with information, however trivial they may think it is, to bring it forward. That information may mean nothing to them but it might be the piece of information we are looking for,” he said. The commission has searched the general Bragan bog site three times already, but now the trees have been cut down in a 100m by 100m area, this is the first time it has been able to search this specific location. When Mr McVeigh was murdered the area would have been covered in saplings. Mr Knupfer said the work would take a number of weeks. “This is a complex process. We have to be very careful in digging the ground and clearing away all the tree roots. It’s a case of fingers crossed that we will be successful this time,” he said. In the mid-1980s, Mr Knupfer carried out searches for two of the victims of Brady and Hindley, who in the early 1960s killed five children aged between 10 and 17 in the so-called Moors murders. He was successful in recovering the remains of victim Pauline Reade. The remains of Keith Bennett were not found. So far the remains of 10 of the 17 Disappeared victims of the Troubles, most of whom were murdered by the IRA, have been recovered. The Irish Times - Tuesday, April 24, 2012 http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/0424/1224315104139.html

Philadelphia Soldier Missing from Vietnam War Identified

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced today that the remains of a serviceman, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors. Army Capt. Charles R. Barnes of Philadelphia, Pa., will be buried May 2, in Arlington National Cemetery. On March 16, 1969, Barnes and four other service members departed Qui Nhon Airfields bound for Da Nang and Phu Bai, in a U-21A Ute aircraft. As they approached Da Nang, they encountered low clouds and poor visibility. Communications with the aircraft were lost, and they did not land as scheduled. Immediate search efforts were limited due to hazardous weather conditions, and all five men were list as missing in action. From 1986-1989, unidentified human remains were turned over to the United States from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (S.R.V.) in several different instances. None of the remains were identified given the limits of the technology of the time. In 1993, a joint U.S.-S.R.V. team, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), conducted investigations in Quang Nam-Da Nang, and Thua Thien-Hue Provinces. They interviewed a local Vietnamese citizen who supplied remains and an identification tag bearing Barnes' name, which he claimed to have recovered from an aircraft crash site. In 1999, another joint U.S.-S.R.V. team interviewed additional Vietnamese citizens about the crash and they were led to the crash site. In 2000, a joint U.S.-S.R.V. team excavated the site and recovered human remains and material evidence. Scientists from the JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory used circumstantial evidence, and forensic identification tools such as mitochondrial DNA -- which matched that of Barnes' sister -- in the identification of the remains. For additional information on the Defense Department's mission to account for missing Americans, call 703-699-1420 or visit the DPMO website at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo 1 May 2012 Read more: http://www.gloucestercitynews.net/clearysnotebook/2012/05/soldier-missing-from-vietnam-war-identified.html#ixzz1tj0ckliD

Mangalore: Mass burial site of crash victims not indicated

TOI-pk The mass burial site of 12 victims of the IX-812 crash at Tannir Bhavi near here is now an obscure spot. Barring a few undulations where the bodies were buried and a red and white tape bordering the site, there is hardly any indication to show that the bodies of the air crash victims lie interned there. This has angered many, including Robert Pinto, who had airline crew - Yuganthar Rana and Mohammed Ali and who perished in the air crash - as his tenants. Pinto said the district administration should at least erect a fence so that the site is not disturbed and a board to indicate that unidentified bodies were buried there. One of the cabin crew, Sujatha Survase, from Maharashtra was also buried there. Not all of her family members could come for the mass burial as it was decided by the administration at the last minute. If her relatives want to see the site where she was buried, they will be shocked. Can I show that place and say your kin was buried there? asks Pinto. To give credit to the district administration, it tried hard to get a land for mass burial, but due to religious sentiments involved they could not get any land. New Mangalore Port Trust had stepped in to provide the land. Sources in NMP say that nothing can be done at that site as it is abutting the river and high tension power lines run above the site. Earlier, the authorities here had sent samples of 22 victims and their relatives for DNA sampling to Hyderabad-based Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD) after they were faced with multiple claims for some of the bodies. The CDFD, on May 26, presented a report identifying 10 of the bodies. Of this, a Udupi-based family refused to collect the body stating that it did not match physical profile. Based on a subsequent report presented by CDFD authorities on May 28, the authorities handed over one more body to next of their kin. This left them dealing with families of remaining victims. The 12 bodies were laid to rest after the religious leaders from Hindu, Muslim, Christian and Sikh communities performed the last rites. 6/25/2010 http://www.sfxkutam.com/news_index_arch1.asp?offset=1210

Assam asks Dhaka to help locate ferry victims

Guwahati, May 2 (IANS) Assam has sought help from Bangladesh to trace bodies of a ferry disaster which might have been washed away downstream, an official said Wednesday. As authorities resumed search operations for the Monday victims, an Assam government spokesman admitted that Bangladesh had been asked to help. The incident took place in lower Assam’s Dhubri district. Border Security Force (BSF) and National Disaster Rescue Force (NDRF) personnel are engaged in the search for the missing following the tragedy that is feared to have killed 270 people. The spokesman said strong river currents may have washed away the bodies downstream to Bangladesh. Although it is estimated that about 270 died in the worst ever ferry tragedy in Assam, the administration is yet to confirm the exact number of the dead. “We have reports that there were about 350 people on board and only 80 were rescued. However, our investigation is still on and we cannot confirm the exact number of deceased as we we do not have the bodies,” Dhubri district Deputy Commissioner Kumud Kalita told IANS. He said only 42 complaints of missing people had been received. He hinted the government might have to presume the missing were dead. “But it’s too early,” Kalita said. The government said the state machinery had been told to take measures to stop the recurrence of such incidents. Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi is likely to visit the area Thursday. http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/assam-asks-dhaka-to-help-locate-ferry-victims-lead_100615291.html