Mystery donor offers cash reward to find murdered Sunderland soldier's body

Murdered Captain Robert Nairac was raised in Sunderland.

The remains of Captain Robert Nairac, who grew up in Thornhill Gardens, Ashbrooke, have still to be recovered more than 42 years after his execution by the IRA.

His case is one of only three involving the so-called Disappeared - victims of the Northern Ireland Troubles whose bodies were hidden - which has still to be solved by the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains (ICLVR)

None of the six men convicted of their role in the May 1977 killing have ever revealed what happened to Captain Nairac's remains.

Now the independent British Crimestoppers agency has revealed that an anonymous donor has offered $20,000 for information leading to the recovery of each of the three outstanding victims.

Related content: Murdered Sunderland soldier's life, death and the ongoing search for his bodySpeaking about the $60,000 offer, Crimestoppers director of operations Fiona McCormack said: “People giving information can be safe in the knowledge that no one will ever know who they are – not even us.

"That is a promise we have kept since the charity began more than 30 years ago.

“The commission is doing an excellent job and to date the remains of 13 of the 16 Disappeared have been recovered.

"Our reward is not about finding out what happened to these people.

"The families of those who have yet to be found deserve to be able to hold a long-overdue funeral for their relatives.

“The reward was put up by an anonymous donor and is $20,000 USD for the recovery of each body. It can only be claimed for information that goes directly to us.”

Captain Nairac, 28, was kidnapped in the car park of the pro-Catholic Three Steps pub, in Dromintee, South Armagh, on May 14, 1977, after drinking undercover inside.

The Grenadier Guardsman was shot across the Republic of Ireland border in the early hours of the following morning with his body thought to be buried in dense County Louth woodland.

Crimestoppers can be contacted in confidence on 0800 555 111 or by completing an anonymous form on its www.crimestoppers-uk.org website.