Columba McVeigh
Columba McVeigh was a youth from Northern Ireland who was abducted and most likely murdered by the Provisional Irish Republican Army. He was listed as one of the "Disappeared" by the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains.
A nineteen-year-old from Donaghmore, County Tyrone, McVeigh disappeared in November 1975. The IRA subsequently claimed he confessed to being a British Army intelligence agent ordered to infiltrate their ranks, but never indicated any specific act that prompted his murder.
Theories
McVeigh's elder brother Eugene had been a part-time soldier in the Ulster Defence Regiment until 1972, at which point he left to focus on his career. A former UDR comrade of Eugene McVeigh suggested this military service may have contributed to Columba being targeted, although Eugene McVeigh disputed this — as he did not personally receive any threats from local IRA members during his time as a Catholic soldier in the UDR. Eugene McVeigh acknowledged that Columba sometimes spoke to Royal Ulster Constabulary officers and 'may have passed on tidbits of information' to the security forces, but denied Columba had been formally recruited as an informer.
Recent developments
Unsuccessful searches were carried out for the location of his body in 2003, 2011, and 2012. In September 2018, forensic archaeologists started searching Braggan Bog, near Emyvale. That search ended without success in September 2019, having paused between November 2018 and June 2019. A further search in October 2022 was also unsuccessful. Another search took place between August and December 2025, but no remains were found.