Family of tragic teenager Matthew McCallan preparing for his remains to arrive home on Wednesday evening

The 15-year-old was reported missing in the early hours of Sunday when he did not arrive home from an event as expected.

His body was eventually discovered in a ditch shortly before mid-day on Monday in Fintona – more than two miles from where he had been socialising.

Police have now referred their response to the initial missing person report to the police ombudsman following concerns expressed by the McCallan family.

In a Facebook post on Wednesday afternoon, Matthew’s mother Frances McCallan said: “Matthew will be home with us this evening but we are asking to keep the wake strictly private for close family and friends.

“His funeral is on Sunday @2pm in Edendork and everyone is welcome.”

In a social media post on Tuesday, Frances McCallan posted: “Whats on my mind.... my son is dead because the police service of Northern Ireland did nothing to help in the first ten to twelve hours of going missing, I told them it was totally out of character, yet hours went by and no one listened and my friends and the Fintona community gathered the necessary CCTV evidence”.

Detective Superintendent Gareth Talbot said: “Our thoughts remain with Matthew’s devastated family.

"The pain they are experiencing is difficult to comprehend.”

Police have appealed to anyone who saw Matthew, or anyone who has CCTV or dashcam footage, to contact police on 101, quoting 319 of 04/12/22.