GARDAÍ INVESTIGATING THE disappearance of Kerry farmer Michael Gaine have sealed off an area that had previously been examined and begun a new search of the land there. 

In a brief statement late on Friday night, gardaí confirmed that they had “recommenced” a search of land in Carrig East, Kenmare, Co Kerry. 

“An Garda Siochána is not in a position to provide any further information at this time,” a spokesperson said. 

Michael, who was 56, was last seen on 20 March in Kenmare when he bought phone credit in a Centra in the town shortly before 10am.  

His disappearance had initially been treated as a missing person case, before being upgraded to a homicide investigation at the end of April. 

A massive search and investigation was carried out in the days and weeks after Michael went missing. 

Gardaí and volunteers conducted extensive searches of the area, while the investigation took in hundreds of witness statements and examined thousands of hours of CCTV and dash-cam footage in a bid to find out what happened to him. 

Speaking when the case was upgraded to a homicide, Michael’s sister Noreen said that his family were “absolutely heartbroken” by his disappearance. She described him as a “loving husband, brother, uncle”.

“We are devastated. Our lives are shattered. We want answers,” she said.