Nuala O'Loan yesterday urged anyone with even the smallest amount of information to come forward so the families of seven people 'disappeared' by republican paramilitaries can bury their remains.
The former police ombudsman was speaking at the launch of The Disappeared of Northern Ireland's Troubles, a book which tells the personal stories of families of those whose loved ones were abducted, murdered and secretly buried.
The bodies of 10 of the victims have so far been recovered. The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims Remains is still searching for seven people murdered and secretly buried in unmarked graves.
Earlier this week actor Liam Neeson added his voice to the campaign to have the bodies returned to their loved ones saying they were living in a "cruel and inhumane limbo".
Many of the families were gathered at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast yesterday for the launch of the book, produced by the Wave Trauma Centre.
"This is something that should never have happened and should never be allowed to happen again," Mrs O'Loan said.
"While the rest of us want so much from life, the families just want one thing, they want to bring their loved ones home.
"Information passed to the commission is confidential, the families are never told where or who it came from, there will be no police visit, no prosecution.
"The law is there to protect those who come forward and I would appeal to them help bring these boys home to their families."
John McClory from west Belfast went missing in 1978. His sister Eileen said the book provides a permanent record for future generations.
His remains were eventually discovered along with those of Brian McKinney at Colgagh, Inniskeen, Co Monaghan on June 30 1999.
An inquest heard he had been shot in the back of the head but also his skull had been smashed with a heavy object.
"John was only a child - he was 18 and had just started his first job at the site of Mary Peters track," she said.
"He went out to go to work one day and just never came back.
"I will never forget our mother at John's funeral. As we walked together she said to us, 'Hold your head up high, we have nothing to be ashamed of'.
"She was a proud woman. She died nine months later.
"My brother was just a child. He never got to be the person he could have been, never even had a girlfriend.
"I'd loved to have seen him all grown up married with a child of his own but he never got that chance.
Saturday 22 June 2013
http://www.irishnews.com/news/o-loan-appeals-for-fresh-disappeared-information-1266172
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