A search in the Republic of Ireland for a couple last seen in 2015 has ended, Gardaí (Irish police) have announced.

Willie Maughan and Anastasija Varslavane were last seen on April 14, 2015.

The search operation, which started last weekwas carried out on open land in the north of County Dublin.

Gardaí investigating the couple’s disappearance and murder said the investigation has now concluded and the family have been informed.

“Nothing of evidentiary value was found during the search operation,” a Gardaí spokesperson said.

The spokesperson appealed to anyone with information to contact investigating Gardaí.

Earlier this week, Mr Maughan’s parents made a new call for information about what happened to their son and his girlfriend.

His mother, Helen Maughan, told Irish broadcaster RTÉ she hoped the search would provide answers for the family and bring closure to the case.

“It’s been nine years now and things are changing. I wish (anyone with information) would just look at me, look at Joe and my family and pass on any information,” she said.

At the time of their disappearance, one of the lines of inquiry was that the couple had been murdered by a criminal gang.

The couple had been together since 2014 and lived in a caravan in Gormanston, Co Meath.

Mr Maughan had decided to return to his family home in Tallaght with Ms Varslavane.

On the morning of Tuesday 14 April 2015, Mr Maughan traveled to Balbriggan, followed shortly afterwards by Ms Varslavane.

They did some shopping and made contact with William’s mother to arrange for her to travel from Tallaght to Gormanston to collect them and their belongings.

William spoke to his mother around 2:30 p.m. local time and asked her to drive to Gormanston to collect them.

Mr Maughan and Ms Varslavane took a taxi together from Balbriggan to Gormanston shortly after 2.30pm.

Maughan’s mother arrived in Gormanston just before 3:00 p.m. but was unable to locate her son.

She went to Stamullen to look for him but did not find him.

She returned to Gormanston and called his cell phone, but it went straight to voicemail.

Mr Maughan and Ms Varslavane did not turn up and Mr Maughan’s mother became extremely concerned and reported them missing.

The case was upgraded to a murder investigation after a review in September 2016.