A search operation launched this morning at an area of bog land in north county Dublin in connection with the disappearance and murder of William Maughan and Anastasija Varslavane has been stood down for the night.
The scene at Ring Commons, Balrothery East will be preserved overnight and the search will resume again at first light in the morning.
The search is part of a long-running investigation since the couple were first reported missing in 2015.
A search team of around 30 personnel, including members of the Meath Divisional Search Unit and the Garda Technical Bureau, began combing what is a large area of bog land at around 9am this morning.
A digger was brought to the site as were portable floodlight towers.
A cadaver dog was also at the scene today and assisted in narrowing down the focus of the search.
Initial searches today concentrated on a specific part of the bog land towards the back of the site.
Shortly after 6pm, the search was wound down owing to fading daylight.
The search will resume tomorrow morning and could continue throughout the weekend.
A three-day Temporary Restricted Air Space has been put in place by the Irish Aviation Authority in respect of the search area in north county Dublin.
This means it is illegal for any drones to be flown within a one-kilometre radius of the search site until Monday morning.
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Mr Maughan and Ms Varslavane had been together since 2014 and lived in a caravan in Gormanston, Co Meath, about a 10-minute drive from the search site.
They had decided to live at Mr Maughan's family home in Tallaght at the time of their disappearance.
Mr Maughan's mother and father, Helen and Joe, were making arrangements for their return.
On the morning of Tuesday 14 April 2015, Mr Maughan went to Balbriggan and was followed shortly afterwards by Ms Varslavane.
They ran some errands and made contact with Mr Maughan's mother, Helen, to arrange for her to travel from Tallaght to Gormanston to collect them and their belongings.
Mr Maughan spoke to his mother at around 2.30pm that afternoon and asked her to make her way out to Gormanston to collect them.
The couple got a taxi together from Balbriggan to Gormanston just after 2.30pm.
However, when Helen arrived in Gormanston just before 3pm, she could not locate her son.
Mr Maughan's mother drove to Stamullen to look for him but didn't find him.
She then returned to Gormanston and called his mobile phone but it went straight to the message minder.
When Mr Maughan and Ms Varslavane never showed up, Helen became extremely worried and reported both as missing.
An extensive investigation was launched with several searches and enquiries carried out.
In September 2016, the case was upgraded to a murder investigation following a review.
Seven people have previously been arrested in connection with the disappearance and murder of Mr Maughan and Ms Varslavane.
However, no criminal charges have ever been brought against any person.
The investigation is being led by a senior investigation officer based out of an incident room at Ashbourne Garda Station.
Gardaí say they have been and continue to be in contact with the family, to keep them fully updated in relation to this investigation and they have been fully informed on all of today's developments.
Gardaí also continue to appeal to anyone with information in relation to the disappearance and murder of Mr Maughan and Ms Varslavane to come forward.
They are asking anyone with any information, no matter how small or insignificant they might believe it to be, to contact Ashbourne Garda Station on 01 801 0600, the Garda Confidential Line at 1800 666 111 or any garda station.
A Garda spokesperson has said any information will be treated with the strictest confidence and investigations remain ongoing.
