by Ronan McSherry r.mcsherry@usterherald.com
Kathleen Arkinson hopes to meet the man she believes murdered her teenager sister Arlene who vanished in 1994. Robert Howard, who was acquitted of her murder in 2005, was the last person seen with the 15-year-old schoolgirl.
In a fresh bid to give her sister a proper burial Kathleen Arkinson telephoned Frankland prison in England last week and asked to speak to the 63-year-old child-killer. Ms Arkinson was unsuccessful in her attempt to contact Howard, one of the UK's most notorious sexual predators.
She said, "I am getting some legal advice but it's my intention at the moment is to write to the governor of Frankland Prison and ask for a meeting. My family believes that Bob Howard is the only one who knows where Arlene is. She is out there somewhere. Twelve years of searches haven't found her, now I have to try something else."
Last week Howard failed in a last-ditch attempt to have his conviction for murdering London teenager Hannah Williams quashed.
Ms Arkinson added, "Since his appeal failed he has nothing to lose. He'll more than likely die in prison. I am hoping that may change his mind and he'll give Arlene up."
Before Christmas further searches by police to locate for the body of missing teenager Arlene Arkinson proved futile bringing further heartache to the Arkinson family.
William Arkinson, the father of the 15-year-old schoolgirl said, "We want to get Arlene's body home. This is very difficult to cope with. Howard is serving a life sentence in England. You would think in the last 12 years they could have got some information from him.
Arlene Arkinson disappeared on August 14 1994 after a night out with Howard and friends in Bundoran, Co Donegal. Some of the most extensive searches ever carried out in the North followed, to no avail.
The jury in the Belfast trial was not made aware of Howard's history of child sex crimes dating back 40 years to the mid-1960s or that he was serving a life sentence for the murder of 14-year-old schoolgirl Hannah Williams whose body was found in a shallow grave in Kent in 2003. Nor were they told of a sex attack on another Co Tyrone girl in 1993 for which Howard escaped with a suspended sentence which allowed him to go on and murder Hannah Williams.
Superintendent Colin Murray, of Kent Constabulary's major crime department, led the investigation into Hannah's death and said Howard showed no hint of remorse after his arrest.
He said, "Howard was a truly evil man. He is the worst sex offender I have ever dealt with. I have real concerns that he has murdered in the past and gone unpunished."
While the Arkinson family have no doubt that Howard was responsible for the murder of Arlene their priority is to bring home her body for burial.
