Missing boys case 'unexplained and potentially suspicious'

Thomas Spence and John Rodgers were last seen in 1974

Police are appealing for new information on the disappearance of two young boys from west Belfast 50 years ago.

Thomas Spence, 11, from Rockdale Street and John Rodgers, 13, from Rodney Drive, were last seen on the morning of 26 November 1974 at a bus stop on the Falls Road.

The boys were waiting for a bus to St Aloysius School but they never arrived and have not been seen since.

A PSNI spokesperson said the circumstances around the boys’ disappearance are still “unexplained and potentially suspicious”.

A 69-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with the disappearances in 2001.

Following the arrest two houses in Rodney Drive were excavated.

Nothing was found in the search and the man was released from police custody without charge.

At the time, Det Supt John Short said that "despite any rumours" the family could be "absolutely satisfied" that the police "conducted a thorough search".

Family pain and suffering

The missing persons case remains open.

“We are very aware of the pain and suffering that the families of Thomas and John continue to feel today particularly with not knowing the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of these two young innocent boys”, the PSNI spokesperson said on Tuesday.

"The PSNI will consider all investigative opportunities as part of the review and will consider all potential criminal offences that may be linked to their disappearance," they added.

The PSNI Legacy Investigation Branch said that any new information will be assessed and considered by investigators.

'A long-running mystery'

Analysis: Julian O'Neill BBC News NI crime and justice correspondent

This, I believe, is the longest unsolved missing persons case in Northern Ireland.

There was very little coverage of their disappearance at the time.

This was at the height of the Troubles.

I read earlier there was nothing more than a five-sentence article on page five of a paper four days after the boys went missing.

In 2001 there were digs at two houses three doors apart on the street where John lived, amid fears the boys had been murdered.

Concrete floors were removed and the back yards turned over in a painstaking operation over a number of days, but nothing was found.

The boys’ cases were featured in a 2023 documentary called Lost Boys which looked at the disappearance of five children in Belfast between 1969 and 1974.

It claimed the cases could be linked to a paedophile network and to the Kincora Boys Home.