Gardaí investigating the disappearance and double murder of William Maughan and Anastasija Varslavane began to search open lands in north county Dublin on Friday.
The couple disappeared without trace on April 14th, 2015, and the case was upgraded to a murder investigation following a review in September 2016.
William (Willie) Maughan (35) and Latvian national Anastasija (Anna) Varslavane (21) had been together since 2014, lived in a caravan in Gormanston, Co Meath, and were expecting a child.
The couple had planned to return to Mr Maughan’s family home in Tallaght in April 2015. His parents Helen and Joe Maughan were making arrangements for their return.
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Gardaí said that on the morning of Tuesday, April 14th, 2015, Mr Maughan went to Balbriggan, followed shortly afterwards by Ms Varslavane. They ran some errands and made contact with Mr Maughan’s mother to arrange for her to travel from Tallaght to Gormanston to collect them and their belongings.
Mr Maughan spoke to his mother at about 2.30pm and asked her to collect them at Gormanston. The couple got a taxi from Balbriggan to Gormanston shortly after 2.30pm. Helen Maughan arrived in Gormanston just before 3pm but could not locate her son. She drove to Stamullen to look for him but did not find him. She returned to Gormanston and called his mobile phone but it went straight to the message minder.
The couple were reported missing and an extensive investigation was launched, with several searches and inquiries carried out. Seven people have previously been arrested in connection with the case.
The investigation is being carried out by the Serious Crime Unit, Meath Division, led by a senior investigation officer based in an incident room at Ashbourne Garda station.
In a statement, An Garda Síochána said the family has been kept fully updated in relation to the investigation. The area of land will be searched and subject to excavation and technical and forensic examinations over coming days.
Gardaí continue to appeal to anyone with information to come forward.
“Given the passage of time since their disappearance, individuals’g personal circumstances may now have changed and people may now be in a position to either speak to investigating gardaí or to provide information now that they may not have been able to provide before,” the Garda said in a statement.
“An Garda Síochána appeals to anyone with any information, no matter how small or insignificant you might believe it to be, to contact Ashbourne Garda station on 01 8010600 or any Garda station, or anyone who wishes to provide information confidentially should contact the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111. Any information will be treated with the strictest confidence.”
A Temporary Restricted Air Space has been put in place by the Irish Aviation Authority in respect of the search area in Co Dublin.
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