The remains exhumed from a family grave in Anyalla in November are not those of one of The Disappeared, Joe Lynskey. The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims Remains has also confirmed this morning that DNA testing has proven they are also not the remains of the family who owns the Co. Monaghan grave plot.
The grave was opened with permission from the local Monaghan family whose relatives were buried within. The ICLVR sought to exhume the remains at site following information that some persons were behaving suspiciously at the gravesite around the time Joe Lynskey disappeared from Belfast in 1972.
A statement from the ICLVR says "The results of the DNA examination of the remains have now eliminated them as being those of the family to whom the grave belongs and now also eliminated them as being those of Joe Lynskey or any of the Disappeared."
Both families were notified of the commission's findings in advance of the public statement. ICLVR also recognised the "distressing experience" for the family whose grave was opened to facilitate the exhumation. The Commission said it will continue to do everything in its power to locate and recover the remains of all of the outstanding Disappeared cases.
The Commission reiterated their appeal for anyone with information relating to Joe Lynskey, and the remaining Disappeared Columba McVeigh, Robert Nairac or Seamus Maguire to bring it to the ICLVR where it will be treated in the strictest confidence.
