Relatives of four boys who vanished without a trace more than 50 years ago are to ask a coroner to hold an inquest despite their bodies having never been found.
Lawyers for several relatives have also lodged a complaint with the Police Ombudsman linked to the RUC and PSNI investigation into the disappearances more than half a century ago.
A relative of one of the boys, John Rodgers (13), last night said he believes his young cousin is dead and that he and a friend were murdered.
John was last seen at a bus stop on the Falls Road in November 1974 along with his friend Thomas Spence, aged 11.
Five years earlier, in September 1969 David Leckey (11) and Jonathan Aven (14) disappeared after playing truant from school in east Belfast.
The mutilated remain of another boy, 11-year-old Brian McDermott, were found in a sack in the River Lagan in September 1973 days after he went missing.
The disappearances have been linked to members of a paedophile ring which is believed to have operated with the knowledge of MI5 and involved some of its agents.
The boys’ cases have recently been featured in an acclaimed documentary ‘Lost Boys: Belfast’s Missing Children’.
Earlier this month the Irish News revealed that notorious loyalist child abuser, Orangeman and MI5 agent William McGrath has been linked with an attempt to snatch a schoolboy from a west Belfast street a year before John and Thomas went missing.
He has previously told investigative journalist Chris Moore how he narrowly avoided the clutches of a man who tried to swipe him from the street as he played with friends.
McGrath was a founding member of the loyalist group Tara and is understood to have had links to the UVF and UDA.
He was a key figure in a child sex ring centred on Kincora Boys’ Home in east Belfast thought to have been operated with the knowledge of MI5, which then blackmailed those involved in abusing children.
Lawyers for some relatives of ‘Lost Boys’ David Leckey, Jonathan Aven and John Rodgers will today ask a coroner for inquests to be held into their disappearances in the absence of their bodies.
The request will include Thomas Spence “by connection”.
A complaint has also been lodged with the Police Ombudsman.
On the 50th anniversary of their disappearance last month the PSNI issued a statement saying they were “reviewing the disappearance” of Thomas Spence and John Rodgers.
The PSNI’s Legacy Investigations Branch (LIB) said their disappearance is “still unexplained and potentially suspicious”.
Paul Fox, a cousin of John Rodgers, believes he is dead and that he and Thomas were murdered.
“I think it’s impossible for two young boys to go missing and not show up again,” he said.
Mr Fox was disappointed by the recent PSNI statement.
“This is nonsense…I saw it and I couldn’t read it because to me it was an insult, asking for information 50 years after the event,” he said.
“Who’s alive that would remember anything?”
Mr Fox pointed out that his cousin is not officially registered as dead and he does not believe a proper investigation has ever been carried out.
He believes that while a murder investigation may not provide answers because “it’s too late now”, he adds there “should be some sort of inquiry”.
In 2001 a 69-year-old man was arrested by police on suspicion of murder and excavation work began at two properties in the same street where John Rodgers lived in Belfast.
Nothing was found and the man was later released without charge.
Mr Fox is of the view his cousin’s death is linked to Kincora.
Owen Winters, of KRW Law, said the Lost Boys documentary, produced by Ed Stobart and directed by Des Henderson, was central in preparing complaints to the Police Ombudsman and helped inform the grounds for the application to the coroner for the new inquests.
“These poor lost boys were forgotten about 50 years ago,” he said.
“Their families were also lost and forgotten about but not anymore.
“We are confident the out workings of this seminal documentary will prove to be the catalyst for a long overdue inquest into these killings.”
Detective Superintendent Chris Millar, of the LIB, said the investigation into the disappearance of Thomas and John remains open “remains open with the circumstances around their disappearance still unexplained”.
“We are committed to finding answers for the young boys families, and all credible lines of enquiry will be investigated when they are identified,” he added.
A spokesman for the Police Ombudsman said it has “received a complaint in respect of the ‘Lost Boys of Belfast’ which is currently being considered”.
