Gardaí investigating disappearance of a man in Co Westmeath in 1987 exhumed a body from a cemetery in the county this morning.
Originally from Dublin, Brian McGrath, 43, was last seen in March, 1987.
Members of the Garda Serious Crime Review Team with gardaí from the Longford/Westmeath Division participated in the operation at around 6am at Whitehall Cemetery, Coole, Co. Westmeath.
Advances in investigative technologies and techniques, including DNA, which were not available to the original investigation team, prompted the resumption of the Garda investigation into Mr McGrath's disappearance.
The remains have been taken to Dublin City Morgue, Marino, where additional post mortem examination and tests are taking place.
Mr McGrath's family home in Coole, Co Westmeath, has been designated a crime scene and searches have been carried out in the house and on surrounding lands.
In 1993, gardaí acting on new information resumed their investigation into Mr McGrath's disappearance and submitted a file to the Director of Public Prosecution following the discovery of what were thought to be his remains. However, the investigation did not result in a prosecution.
Over 25 garda personnel, assisted by a Crime Scene Investigation team from the Garda Technical Bureau; the Forensic Science Laboratory; an external soil surveying company and an anthropologist, are participating in the investigation.
The office of the State Pathologist is aware of this latest phase of the investigation.