A Queen's University geologist has been helping Colombian police recover the bodies of thousands of the country’s ‘disappeared’, it emerged yesterday.

Dr Alastair Ruffell from Queen’s School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology joined a team of international experts at the first Ibero-American conference in Forensic Geology in the Colombia — the first conference of its kind in South America.

Dr Ruffell was involved in the search for one of Northern Ireland’s ‘disappeared’ — Belfast woman Jean McConville — in 2002 and has been asked for his opinion on other disappeared cases.

He has also been involved in searches for missing persons throughout Ireland and Europe.

Dr Ruffell has reviewed geological evidence in high-profile murder cases and serious crimes throughout Ireland and the United Kingdom.

“Colombia has a long and complex legacy of crime. Many victims of violence have been buried in unmarked graves and there are suspicions of genocide and the existence of mass graves,” he said.

“The Colombian authorities want to locate these burial sites to help bring some closure to the families of the ‘disappeared’ and bring their murderers to justice. Forensic Geology, or Geoforensics, can play an important role in this process.”

Geoforensics is a specialist branch of geology that helps the authorities and humanitarian organisations solve crimes and recover buried persons.

“In the case of Colombia, we can use aerial photography and geophysics to help identify unmarked or mass graves. By analysing rocks and soils, forensic geologists we can uncover physical evidence linking suspects to victims or burial sites,” Dr Ruffell said.

“The Ibero-American conference in Forensic Geology provided an opportunity to collaborate with the Colombian authorities regarding the latest techniques to help recover the bodies of murder victims and prevent further crime by locating buried firearms, explosives or illegal drugs.

“There is a growing network of geo-forensic specialists in academia, law enforcement, the military and industry around the world and in Europe and North America in particular.

“I was surprised to find out that the climate in the higher parts of Colombia is similar to here and these are the places they are mainly concerned about as they were in the control of the paramilitaries for years.”

Dr Ruffell said that the number of people missing in Colombia varies widely but is likely to run into tens of thousands going back to the 1970s.

The Queen’s lecturer said that families of missing people are driven by very strong emotions in often long searches for their loved ones.

“I would urge people to remember that there are not just the ‘disappeared’ from the Troubles.

“We still have five girls and a boy missing from the mid 1990s in the south and Lisa Dorrian and Arlene Arkinson are also still missing.”

lFurther information on the School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology can be found at www.qub.ac.uk/schools/gap