RUC detectives investigating the disappearance of a 15 year old girl from Castlederg, Co Tyrone, yesterday dug up sections of the garden at the home of the missing girl's sister.
Arlene Arkinson who lived with her sister, Kathleen, a mother of four, at Dmmnabbey Park, Spamount, on the outskirts of Castlederg, left her sister's home to go to a disco in Bundoran, Co Donegal, on August 13th, 1994.
There were unconfirmed reports that she was seen sitting in Ia car in Castlederg town centre beady the following morning.
Arlene was reported missing by her family several days after her disappearance. Kathleen initially thought she had been staying with other family members.
The RUC then made several appeals for information on her whereabouts. It carried out a series of searches in bogland and mountainous regions nearby. Several people have been questioned on the disappearance but no one has been charged.
The inquiry took a dramatic turn yesterday when police officers arrived before 6 a.m. at Kathleen Arkinson's house in a small cul de sac. Ms Arkinson said she refused them entrance.
"There was a loud banging on the door. They said they wanted to speak to me. I would not let them in and I asked what they wanted. They then put a sledgehammer through the door and handcuffed me", she said.
The police sealed off the area with white tape. Officers dressed in white boiler suits then searched inside the house and later dug up the garden at the rear of the building. Two skips were used, one for the soil dug up and the other to contain toys and other items removed from both the house and the garden shed. It is believed the items and the soil will be examined by forensic scientists.
As news of the police operation spread around the town, other members of the Arkinson family gathered outside the sealed off house. Ms Arkinson's father, William, and two of her sisters, Mary and Pauline, were upset and angry.
"I cannot understand it. I don't know why this is happening to us," said Ms Mary Arkinson. "It's a disgrace the way the police have handled this. She's not even allowed to talk to members of her own family. We should be in there with her," she said.
Later Ms Arkinson was allowed to speak to her family. RUC Insp Norman Hamill said his officers were acting on new information and he believed the search could take several days to complete.
"The search, which is a very thorough one, is connected with the disappearance of Arlene Arkinson. It follows from that we could indeed be looking for a body. Any distress caused to anyone, in particular to the family, is very regrettable. But it is essential that we should follow every line of inquiry open to us and we are acting on information", he said.
Speaking at a news conference in Strabane RUC station yesterday afternoon, Det Chief Supt Eric Anderson, regional head of the CID, described the operation as part of an extensive investigation into the schoolgirl's disappearance.
"Throughout the past year and a half since Arlene's disappearance we have relentlessly and tenaciously pursued our investigations very methodically. Today we followed up on another line of inquiry which became available to us. We have followed information from many sources and today is just another line of information.
"We cannot reveal our source but the information came about as a result of our overall investigations. It is a murder inquiry and today we were looking for the body of Arlene Arkinson and this will continue for as long as is operationally necessary. If what has been removed from the house and from the garden is not of an evidential nature it will be returned. We have forensic experts at the scene.
"We used a sledgehammer to gain entry to the house because Ms Arkinson was unwilling to allow my officers in. Initially she was handcuffed purely as a restraint measure. The occupants of the house are free to come and go as they please", he said.