The PSNI has apologised to the family of Jean McConville following Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan's damning assessment of how the investigation into her disappearance was handled.
Mrs McConville, a mother of ten, was one of nine people that the IRA admit to having killed and buried in unknown locations. They are known as the "disappeared".
Despite intelligence that Mrs McConville was was still alive for some time after she was abducted from her west Belfast home in December 1972, Mrs O'Loan has established that there was no formal police record of Mrs McConville's disappearance nor any investigation at the time to try and find her.
In a statement today, the PSNI said it was studying the Ombudsman's findings.
"Jean McConville's family have suffered unimaginable pain and grief over the last 34 years. Their mother's brutal abduction and murder by the IRA is one of the most horrific cases in the history of the troubles.
"Police policy and practice into how it deals with missing persons and how it conducts investigations has changed significantly since 1972. We apologise unreservedly to the family for any failings made by police," the statement said.
Mrs O'Loan said she was upholding a complaint about the police investigation brought by two of Mrs McConville's children.
"By January 16th, 1973, a spokesman was being quoted as saying the matter was being investigated, but we have found no evidence of this. There is no crime file about any investigation of the abduction in 1972," said Mrs O'Loan.
Mrs McConville's son, Michael, said he felt vindicated by the report. "They didn't do enough work on the case in the first place, I think it was a big letdown for our family. If police had reacted more quickly, my mother might have still been alive today. I think that to start an investigation 20 years later is a bit late," he said.
Mrs McConville's body was found on Shelling Beach in Co Louth in 2003. She had been shot in the head. To date, no one has been convicted of her murder.
The case is being investigated by the Historical Enquiries Team established by PSNI Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde.