The PSNI today began a new search for the body of teenager Arlene Arkinson, from Castlederg, Co Tyrone, who went missing in 1994 and is believed to have been abducted and murdered.
Arlene (15) was last seen in the company of child killer Robert Howard during a night out across the Border in Bundoran, Co Donegal. A team of PSNI officers with specialist dogs began searching land at Scraghy Road between Castlederg and Ederney this morning.
The PSNI said this was the first phase of an operation to search a number of locations in the Castlederg area and beyond over the coming months.
Similar to searches for members of the so-called “disappeared”, geologists, archaeologists and psychological profilers also will be involved.
The officer leading the new searches, PSNI Det Supt Raymond Murray, said the aim was two-fold - to find Arlene's body and progress the investigation.
"On a personal level, Arlene's family has been in torment for 17 years," he said. "We want to do everything we possibly can to reunite Arlene with her family. Arlene's sisters and brothers have suffered for too long. Despite the considerable time gap and the challenges involved in locating remains, we will do everything we possibly can to achieve this.
"On a policing level, the recovery of remains may represent a significant opportunity to progress the investigation, as knowledge of any remains or the location of a body deposition site may provide evidence to further our inquiries."
Howard stood trial in 2005 for the girl's murder even though her body was not located.
A jury acquitted him of the murder. Howard, now aged 67, was already serving a life sentence for the 2001 murder of Hannah Williams (14) from Deptford in south London.
Three years ago Police Ombudsman Al Hutchinson was critical of the police handling of Arlene’s disappearance. He found that evidence in the search for her killer was unavailable because police delayed arresting Howard, the chief suspect and a known serial sex offender.
He said that investigating detectives “did not respond with vigour to reports that a vulnerable person was missing, having last been seen in the company of a man who was a known sex offender”.
The Arkinson family was also critical of the investigation. The family expressed guarded hope that Arlene’s body would be recovered, with her sister Kathleen repeating that they were “120 per cent” certain that Howard murdered the teenager and that he knew where the body was located.