A 77-year-old man was arrested in connection to the murder of a Belfast woman in 1972 while he was with the Irish Republican Army.
The former senior leader of the Provisional IRA, Ivor Bell, was arrested and charged with aiding and abetting the murder of Jean McConville and for membership in the IRA, reports BBC News. He was arrested by police on Tuesday in Andersontown.
McConville was kidnapped from her apartment while her children were home. she was accused of being an informer for the British Army, a claim that was later dismissed. The 37-year-old was named as one of the Disappeared, which is the name given to those who were kidnapped, killed and quietly buried by the IRA.
Before McConville was killed, she was kept at several different houses. It wasn't until 2003 that her body was found. Her body was discovered at a County Louth beach.
According to the Belfast Telegraph, the IRA only officially acknowledged that they had her killed back in 1999 when they revealed the locations of nine bodies.
During Bell's time with the IRA, he and several other republicans, such as current Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness, met with British ministers in the same year McConville was killed for ceasefire talks.