GARDAI expect to begin excavating a patch of bogland in south Donegal early next week in their search for the remains of Mary Boyle, who disappeared 19 years ago aged seven.
For the past two days a mechanical digger has been making trenches to drain the bog about half a mile from the child's grandparents' home near Ballyshannon.
Mary was visiting her grandparents' home at Cashelard with her parents Ann and Charlie, her twin sister, Ann, and brother, Patrick, when she disappeared on Friday, March 18th, 1977.
"It is a swampy area of about a quarter of an acre that we are now draining. A drain will have to be cut and we will have to allow some time for water to seep out of the swamp, Garda Supt Michael Duffy, of Ballyshannon Garda station, said yesterday. An extensive search of the area will then follow.
The operation was prompted by "family wishes". Work began yesterday morning after digging equipment arrived at the scene late on Wednesday.
Last November members of the Garda Sub Aqua unit spent almost a week searching a lake at Carrick na Horna, also near Cashelard, three miles from Ballyshannon, but nothing was uncovered.
Gardai received two anonymous telephone calls, one on the emergency 999 service and one on the Garda confidential line, from people claiming to have information on the whereabouts of the child's remains.