A site in south Kerry is being excavated in the search for a man who went missing from the area more than 25 years ago.
Charles Brooke Pickard, 43, was abducted and disappeared from Castlecove on the Ring of Kerry in April 1991.
No trace has ever been found of Mr Brooke Pickard but the case has remained open and gardaí and his family have made several appeals for information since his disappearance.
Gardaí say that new information has led them to begin excavating a site to close to where Mr Brooke Pickard's van was found.
Mr Brooke Pickard and his wife Penny moved from England to Ireland in the mid-1980s and bought a farm and an old farmhouse in Castlecove in Kerry to start a new life for their family.
He had four young children at the time of his disappearance.
On 26 April 1991, he was due to go cutting turf with a friend.
However, several people witnessed Mr Brooke Pickard being abducted by up to five men close to his home before he was driven away in his navy Ford Transit van.
Three weeks later, his van was found burned out at Shronaloughnane Forest, off a back road connecting Waterville and Glencar.
Members of the Defence Forces are assisting in the new search operation which began this morning and gardaí have also consulted with an anthropologist.
The search is expected to last at least a week.
Is this the final resting place of #CharlesBrookePickard missing from his home in South #Kerry for 25 yrs? @rtenews pic.twitter.com/r6uKzYAgPA
— Paschal Sheehy (@PaschalSheehy) September 13, 2016
Superintendent Flor Murphy has appealed for further information from the public.
"There are people who may not have been in a position to assist the investigation twenty five years ago but with the passage of time their circumstances may have changed," said Supt Murphy.
"Relationships, friendships, associations and loyalties may have changed and people may be in a better position to help us now. "
Gardaí have requested that anyone with information to contact them at Killarney Garda Station on 064-6631222 or any garda station.
