Arlene Arkinson family 'gutted' as Glenfin search for her body ends

The family of Arlene Arkinson say they are 'gutted' at the ending of a major search and dig operation for her remains in a remote Glenfin forest.

Gardai scoured Ballybobaneen Forest near Cloghan in an attempt to find fresh clues that might lead them to the body of the 15-year-old Castlederg girl who went missing following a night out in Bundoran in 1994.

Over a dozen gardai, including local detectives and uniformed officers, were involved in a meticulous comb of the wooded area following a tip-off. A crawler excavator and a search dog, Charlie, were also used by gardai.

On Saturday, the search was called off. It was the second such operation in County Donegal this year following a similar search in the Castlefin area in May.

“We are gutted,” Arlene's sister Kathleen told Donegal Live. “I am sad, but I still won't give up hope.

“It was amazing to see them all out searching for Arlene again. They are amazing. I had very good hope again, but I was still afraid because it is a wild let down.”

Some of the Arkinson family, including Kathleen and her sister Paula, and their solicitor, Des Doherty, visited the remote site last week. Gardai kept the site under constant watch as they carried out the painstaking search.

“It lifted the heart a wee bit,” Kathleen said. “I thought that definitely this is it and she was there. It just seemed like an ideal area. It was a full month since we had the 30^th vigil so it all seemed to be rolling into it. We went over, but every five minutes was precious to them so we didn't stay too long.

“We can't thank the people enough. From the bottom of my heart, thank you to them. It was a big operation that had to be planned.

“We definitely take good heart that Arlene has not been forgotten and we won't give up the fight for Arlene. She has to be somewhere.

“It's sad when you see people there searching for your wee sister. It's sad to look at grown people looking for a wee girl because those people all have hearts too. They are all just ordinary people with families.

“You don't want it to end. You want to carry on, but then you just know that they couldn't do any more. The guards are taking it very seriously and they are determined.”

Gardai search at Ballybobaneen Forest near Cloghan. (North West Newspix)

Several searches have taken place in the years since Arlene was last seen in August 1994.

Arlene was last seen in a car driven by serial killer Robert Howard on August 14, 1994, and her body has never been found.

It was ruled at an inquest in 2021 Arlene was abducted and murdered by Howard, a native of County Laois who died in prison in 2015, aged 71.

“Robert Howard, a violent sexual offender, and the last person to be seen with Arlene in the early hours of August 14th, 1994, was responsible for her death. The mechanism of death is unknown,” the coroner, Brian Sherrard, said at Omagh courthouse.

Howard was previously charged with Arlene's murder in 2002, but acquitted in 2005.

He died in hospital while in the custody of an English prison, HMP Frankland, in 2015.

At the time, he was serving a life sentence for the rape and murder of Hannah Williams, a 14-year-old from London whose body was found in 2002.

The Arkinson family still hope that the body of their beloved Arlene can be found despite their latest false dawn.

Search took place at the Arkinson home in 1996 while there have also been searches of the Killen area in County Tyrone in 2016 having searched an apartment in Castlederg in 2012. In 2018, a body exhumed in Grange, County Sligo as part of a search operation was found to not be hers.

“Arlene is in my thoughts every day,” Kathleen said. “I want to thank everyone who sent nice messages and prayers and lit candles during the search. It was so thoughtful of people. There are good people out there.

“I just hope that anyone who might have information might come forward. It might feel like it's something small to them, but it could be massive. I am just appealing to people who have anything or know anything at all. It could be significant to our search.

“We just want to find Arlene. I do believe that she will be found.”