THE FUNERAL FOR ONE OF the Disappeared, Gerry Evans, is being held today in Crossmaglen.
Evans was last seen alive hitchhiking from Castleblaney, Co Monaghan, in 1979.
In October, the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains (ICLVR) announced remains had been discovered during a search for Evans in Co Louth.
Those remains were subsequently identified as belonging to Evans, who was 24 when he disappeared.
The ICLVR campaigns for the recovery of the bodies of people who disappeared during the Troubles and are believed to be the victims of paramilitary violence. The search for Evans’ remains was carried out for 16 months at a bog at Carrickrobin, Co Louth, and the discovery was made just as the Commission announced it would be winding down the search.
The BBC reports that Evans’ brother, Noel, said today would be a bittersweet day for the family and paid tribute to his mother for her years of waiting, saying she has “finally got her son back”.
Eight names remain on the ICLVR’s list of ‘disappeared’ persons.
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