NI Secretary Meets Family of Disappeared Victim at Dig Site

Columba McVeigh, 19, from Donaghmore, County Tyrone, is one of 17 victims of what is known as the mass disappearance.

 Mr. McVeigh, who was last seen 50 years ago, was abducted and murdered by the IRA in 1975, and his body was secretly buried.

 "It is desperate to think of what happened here 50 years ago," Benn said while visiting the County Monaghan site.

He appealed for anyone with information about the location of Mr. McVeigh's remains, and about three other unsolved missing persons cases, to come forward.

 "End their agony ... if you have got any information please pass it on."

Columba McVey's sister said she was "amazed" the NI Secretary of State visited the family at Bragan Bog.

 Dympna Kerr said it "means a lot" to the family that he took the time to come and see how large and remote the bog is.

 The excavation is taking place in a different part of the bog, but Dympna said: "Wherever I'm in this bog, my heart breaks. All I can think about is my brother lying there."

 The family hopes to receive more information.

"There's somebody out there somewhere, maybe not intentionally, and they think it's irrelevant, every bit is relevant in the case of the disappeared," she told BBC News NI.

 "I don't want to know who they are or wish them any harm. I just wish they'd pluck the courage up and put us out of our misery."

The latest search for Mr McVeigh's remains has been ongoing since August at Bragan Bog in County Monaghan.