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Fresh search in France for body of Irish 'Disappeared' murder victim Seamus Ruddy

A FRESH search has been launched in a French forest for 'Disappeared' murder victim Seamús Ruddy.

'The Disappeared' refers to a 16 individuals who disappeared during The Troubles.

The Provisional IRA admitted responsibility for 13 of the 16, while one was admitted by republican paramilitary group the INLA.

No attribution has been given to the remaining two. To date the remains of 10 victims have been recovered.

Seamus Ruddy, 33 and originally from Newry, was an English teacher in Paris, France, when he disappeared in May 1985.

In December 1995 the INLA admitted responsibility for his death.

In February 1999 information emerged to suggest that his body was buried in Rouen, France, but despite three previous searches, his remains have not yet been recovered.

The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains (ICLVR) confirmed that a fresh search for Mr Ruddy's remains has begun in Pont-de-l'Arche forest outside Rouen in northern France.

Geoff Knupfer who heads the team that found fellow Disappeared victims Brendan Megraw in 2014, as well as Kevin McKee and Seamus Wright in 2015 said that he was satisfied that the information the ICLVR is now working from is "as accurate as it can be given the passage of time."

Mr Knupfer said: “I am convinced that there is a genuine desire on the part of those supplying the information to get this resolved by finding where Seamus is buried.

"Everyone we have found to date has been in the area where we were told that they were. It is always a question of narrowing that down to a precise location.

"I really hope that we can do this again and find him," he added.

Mr Knupfer said that all searches present their own challenges but in this case the specialist contractors and forensic archaeologists will be able to get to work on the site straight away and not wait for preliminary geophysical mapping.

“This site differs from Oristown in Meath where we found Brendan Megraw, and Coghalstown also in Meath where Kevin McKee and Seamus Wright were buried, in that it is in a forest rather than a bog.

"It is also a more defined search area," he said. "In Oristown we were searching an area about the size of eight football pitches. Here we are looking at around half a pitch."

Mr Ruddy's family have said that they are in for "a very anxious wait" to see if he can be found and returned to them for a Christian burial.

Speaking from her home in Newry, Anne Morgan, the sister of Seamus Ruddy said: “Seamus disappeared almost exactly 32 years ago on May 9, 1985.

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

"All we want is to bring Seamus home to Monk’s Hill to be buried with our mother and father," she added.

The joint British and Irish Commissioners for The Disappeared, Sir Ken Bloomfield and Frank Murray said that they too hoped the search would be successful and that the remains of Seamus Ruddy would be returned to his family for Christian burial.

A joint statement said: “We share the hopes and prayers of the family that we’ll be successful.

We know that the team led by Geoff are world leaders in this work and they will bring all their experience and commitment to try to bring this search to a successful conclusion.

"We are grateful for the continued support of the UK and Irish Governments in enabling the Commission to continue this humanitarian work.

"We also very much appreciate the co-operation of the French authorities in facilitating the search. We are mindful, however, that as we start this search there are three other families who still await the word that we can move forward on their cases.

"At the Palm Sunday Mass, Archbishop Eamon Martin made a powerful plea to those who hold information but have yet to come forward to do so.

"We echo that appeal today," they said.

In addition to Seamus Ruddy, three other Disappeared have yet to be found - Columba McVeigh, Joe Lynskey and Robert Nairac.