Let us hope the raised £60,000 helps to uncover the fate of Lisa Dorrian

It is more than 17 years since Lisa Dorrian went missing, then aged 25.

The Bangor hairdresser was last seen at a party in Ballyhalbert in February 2005.

In the early days of her disappearance, it was not clear what had happened. But as the searches for Lisa dragged on, her grisly fate gradually became clear.

To this day, this much loved young woman has never been found. There is no doubt that she was killed and her body carefully hidden. There have been various arrests, thousands of interviews, hundreds of searches but still there is no closure for Lisa’s family.

Somewhere out there are her remains. And somewhere out there are her murderer or murderers. Are they merely murdering thugs? Or does anybody involved in this terrible crime feel any hint of remorse as the years grind on?

The police believe that the murder was not pre-planned and that the removal of the body was not pre-planned. They also say that it was not a paramilitary killing.

Lisa’s killing has struck a nerve with the public in Northern Ireland, in the same way that other killings have done, such as the appalling 1988 murder of the German backpacker Inga Maria Hauser. The full facts as to what happened to Inga Maria are also thought by police to be known by a small number of people.

Lisa Dorian’s father John, her sisters Joanne, Michelle, and Ciara, press on in their search for answers, continuing their efforts in the determined and dignified spirit of Lisa’s late mother Patricia, who died in 2015, never having recovered from the loss of her daughter. Now there is a glimmer of hope that information might be forthcoming, as a fundraiser for a reward to help find Lisa’s body has passed £60,000.

Meanwhile, the family is of course right to say that people who are found guilty of such killings should not only face lengthy prison sentences, but jail terms that are made longer still if they fail to disclose the whereabouts of the victim.