Chief Constable Hugh Orde's claim that the IRA was highly likely to have abducted and killed a Co Armagh father-of-two missing since May came as a shock, the man's mother said last night.
Bernie O'Connor and her husband Mark maintain that their son Gareth (24), last seen on Sunday May 11, was ambushed by Provisional IRA members as was driving through the south Armagh border village of Newtownhamilton.
In an interview in the Irish News yesterday (Thursday) Mr Orde said it was "highly likely" that the IRA was behind Mr O'Connor's suspected abduction and murder.
"I think it is highly likely. If it was anyone else, he probably would have been found," Mr Orde said.
Mrs O'Connor said Mr Orde's remarks had "confirmed everything" the family had said.
"When you see it in print, it's still a bit of a shock," she added.
Detectives in Armagh have been treating Mr O'Connor's disappearance as a suspected murder inquiry.
Extensive searches have been conducted by the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Garda Siochana.
Mr O'Connor, who was charg-ed in the Republic with membership of the Real IRA, was due to report at Dundalk Garda station as part of his bail conditions when he was last seen.
Remarks made yesterday by Sinn Féin's Gerry Kelly had made the family "furious", Mrs O'Connor said.
At a news conference held to respond to Mr Orde's comments, Mr Kelly said: "I have spoken with Gareth O'Connor's father and I know Martin McGuinness has also spoken to Gareth O'Connor's father.
"The IRA has said itself that it knows nothing about it... and I believe them."
However, Mrs O'Connor said her husband had not spoken to Mr McGuinness.
"Martin McGuinness or Gerry Adams have never spoken to Mark," she said.
"The only conversation Mark has had with any of them was with Gerry Kelly and that lasted less than one minute."
Mrs O'Connor said that in the days following her son's disappearance her husband had "constantly" rung Sinn Féin off-ices in an effort to speak to senior representatives.
"Eventually Mark got to speak to Gerry Kelly," she said.
"We wanted to know where Gareth was and told (Mr Kelly), 'you know as well as I do that no-one disappears in Armagh without the IRA knowing about it'. The answer we got was not satisfactory.
"If the IRA wanted, we could have Gareth back in 15 minutes.
"At the end of the day Gerry Kelly knows where his family is but we don't know where our son is."
Twelve weeks on from Mr O'Connor's disappearance, his mother said that she still "fears the worst".
"All we want is closure on this," she said.
"We could get on with our lives if we had him back.
"We know he's out there somewhere and it is the not knowing that kills us."
Referring to the police investigation and media interest in her son's disappearance, Mrs O'Connor said: "I'm praying that something will come out of it.
"You never know. God could be good."
