THE FAMILY OF a Limerick man whose partial skeletal remains were discovered in 2001 have issued a fresh appeal for information about his death.

20 year-old Aengus ‘Gussie’ Shanahan was last seen alive in his native Limerick city on 11 February, 2000.

Bone fragments belonging to him were later found washed up in Co Clare on 28 October, 2001 by members of Bunratty Search and Rescue Service.

However, the partial remains were only confirmed as belonging to Gussie last year following improvements in DNA technology, gardaí said.

A garda review of the case, launched late last year, is ongoing.

Today, Gussie’s family launched a fresh campaign for information — including a confidential telephone line 087 122 2950 — which will be manned by members of the Shanahan family.

His sister Gráinne said that she and her family believe he was murdered.

“We are going with this new appeal because this is a different chapter in the case,” she said.

“We have laid him to rest, but we still want answers as to what happened to Gussie.”

She appealed directly to those who may have information about her brother’s disappearance and death to let the family know what happened.

She particularly appealed to a male who contacted her father Bob years ago with possible information about the case.

“The man rang my dad and said that Gussie had been in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Gráinne said.

“We’d like to hear from that man again, and anyone that knows what happened on the night Gussie disappeared.”

She also said that any information given to the family would be treated in “strict confidence”.

Gussie’s bone fragments were laid to rest beside his late mother Nancy last November following his funeral mass.

Speaking before the funeral, Bob Shanahan said that hearing from gardaí that the bone fragments found 17 years earlier belonged to his missing son was like being “struck by a thunderbolt”.

The investigation team at Roxboro Road Garda Station can be contacted at 061 214 340 or the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111.