Gardaí stand down search for missing couple
'Nothing of evidential value located'.
Gardaí investigating the disappearance and murder of William ‘Willie’ Maughan and Anastasija Varslavane, who previously lived in the Cavan area, have stood down the search operation.
The search began last week, Friday, November 15, on open lands in north County Dublin.
The search was being carried out by the Garda investigation team supported by the Meath Divisional search team and the Garda Technical Bureau.
An Garda Síochána have updated the family as to these developments.
“Nothing of evidential value was located during the search operation,” said a garda spokesperson.
Gardaí meanwhile continue to appeal to anyone with information in relation to the disappearance and murder of William (34) and his pregnant Latvian girlfriend Anna (21) to speak with investigating gardaí.
William and Anna had been together since 2014 and lived in a caravan in Gormanston, Co Meath, at the time they were reported missing.
William had decided to return to his family home in Tallaght with Anna. His mother and father, Helen and Joe, were making arrangements for their return. However, on the morning of Tuesday, April 14, 2015, William is reported to have gone to Balbriggan followed shortly afterwards by Anastasija. They are said to have run some errands and made contact with William’s mother Helen to arrange for her to travel from Tallaght to Gormanston to collect them and their belongings.
William spoke to his mother at about 2:30pm and asked her to make her way out to Gormanston to collect them. But when Helen arrived in Gormanston just before 3pm, she could not contact them.
She drove to Stamullen to look for William but didn’t find him. She then returned to Gormanston and called his mobile phone but it went straight to message minder.
William and Anna never showed up and Helen reported both as missing.
An extensive investigation was launched with several searches and enquiries carried out to date.
The case was upgraded to a murder investigation following a review of the case in September 2016.
A total of seven people have been arrested in connection with the disappearance and murder of William and Anna.
Those investigations are still “ongoing”.
One line of enquiry being probed by Gardaí is that prominent gangland figure Cornelius Price may have ordered the deaths of William, Anna, and their unborn child.
Price (41) died in Wales in 2023 from a brain injury. He at all times denied any involvement in the couple’s disappearance.
Gardaí say: “Given the passage of time since their disappearance individuals personal circumstances may now have changed and people may now be in a position to either speak to investigating Gardaí or to provide information now that they may not have been able to provide before.”
An Garda Síochána appeals to anyone with any information, no matter how small or insignificant you might believe it to be, to contact Ashbourne Garda Station on 01 8010600 or any Garda station, or anyone who wishes to provide information confidentially should contact the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111.
Any information, they say, will be treated with the strictest confidence.