THE heartbroken sister of a teenage backpacker who is thought to have been murdered in 1988 told how her family were left "broken" by the tragedy.

The body of Munich teenager Inga Maria Hauser was found dumped in a remote part of Ballypatrick Forest, outside Ballycastle, Co Antrim, 14 days after she was last seen alive on a ferry from Scotland.

The 18-year-old's death in April 1988 remains one of the region's most high-profile unsolved murders. And today two suspects, aged 58 and 61, were held in the Loughguile area of Co Antrim early in the morning.

The arrests come weeks after a much-publicised series of appeals to mark the 30th anniversary of the murder, including a letter that was published from her sister Friederike Leibl.

She said in the letter: "It's been nearly 30 years since my younger sister Inga-Maria was so brutally murdered, you cannot imagine how the murder of my sister has affected my family – we are broken inside.

"My father was worst hit – he fell ill with prostate cancer in 2005 and was treated for depression when the whole body was full of cancer.

"The fact of being confronted with this murder for a lifetime is just cruel, sick, sick. So I ask you to come forward with information, otherwise my sister's soul will never rest."

In April, detectives said they believed a number of people may have been involved either directly in the murder or in the subsequent cover-up, and said they only need fractional pieces of evidence to bring the chief suspects to justice.

Police have a male genetic profile found at the murder scene.

A number of years ago, in one of the largest DNA screenings ever undertaken in the UK, 2,000 samples failed to produce a definitive match.

Prior to her death, Ms Hauser had travelled through England and Scotland and, according to diary entries, intended to travel south to Dublin when she docked at Larne, Co Antrim.

But, for reasons as yet unexplained, she ended up going in the opposite direction and was found dead in remote woodland two weeks later.

It is understood the IRA carried out its own investigation into the killing 30 years ago.

It is believed republican paramilitaries had considered passing information about the alleged murderer to the RUC (Royal Ulster Constabulary) at the height of the Troubles, but did not follow through.

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After Monday's arrests, the officer leading the investigation, Police Service of Northern Ireland Detective Chief Superintendent Raymond Murray, renewed his appeal for information.

"If there are any witnesses still out there with any further information which might help police then I would ask them to come forward now and speak to detectives," he said.

"Even if there are people who know what happened but have stayed silent out of friendship or family loyalty, it is still not too late to come forward and tell us what you know.

"Failure to do so can be a criminal offence in itself and surely it would be better to come to police and discuss what happened rather than take the risk we will come to you."

The two men are being questioned by detectives.

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