A search in Ireland for the remains of a British soldier killed and secretly buried by Irish republican paramilitaries almost 50 years ago has ended in failure, authorities announced on Wednesday.

Robert Nairac, captain of the British army, was kidnapped by the IRA in a pub in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, in May 1977, while working undercover and attempting to gather intelligence.

The 28-year-old soldier was taken to a nearby forest, across the border with the Republic of Ireland, where he was tortured and shot. Since then, the location of his remains has remained a mystery, the BBC reported.

Nairac is one of the most high-profile “disappeared”: 17 victims of paramilitary violence during the sectarian conflict against British rule in Northern Ireland, known as the “Troubles”, whose bodies were buried in secret.

Four, including Nairac, are still missing.

Investigators from the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains (ICLVR), an agency tasked with locating the missing, began searching in August on farmland adjacent to the border.

The search, the first to take place and involving mechanical excavators, began after information was passed to the ICLVR, the BBC reported. It is believed to have come from a former IRA member.

But she announced on Wednesday that it had not been successful.

“It is bitterly disappointing that the search for the remains of Robert Nairac has ended without success and our thoughts are with the Nairac family, in particular his sisters Rosemonde and Gabrielle,” said Tim Dalton and Rosalie Flanagan in a joint statement. of the ICLVR.

“The investigation and research team have done everything they can to come to a positive outcome, but it is clear that more information is needed.”

ICLVR lead investigator Jon Hill has requested further information to aid research at the Faughart site, around 55 miles north of Dublin.

“We searched a relatively small area, less than an acre (0.4 hectares), and we did it because the information we had was credible,” he added.

“From our experience during other searches, even though we were in the right area, the precise location was not found on the first try,” he said.

Britain’s Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn said she was “saddened” by the failure of the search.

“My thoughts are with (Nairac’s) sisters, who continue to live with the pain of not receiving the remains of their beloved brother,” Benn said in a statement.

The ICLVR had previously dismissed rumors that Nairac’s body was disposed of using a meat grinder, the BBC reported. He also said there was no evidence linking him to the Dublin Monaghan bombings or the Miami Showband massacre – attacks carried out by loyalists in the 1970s.