The British and Irish governments say they have no objection to the inclusion of the missing Bangor woman Lisa Dorrian's name on the list of cases to be examined by a forensic expert.
The two governments are to name a specialist skilled in the detection of bodies of murder victims in an attempt to locate the bodies of the Disappeared - victims of the IRA abducted and killed whose remains have never been found despite extensive searches.
Ms Dorrian (25) went missing after attending a party in a caravan park in Ballyhalbert on the Ards peninsula in Co Down on February 28th. Loyalist paramilitaries are being blamed for her murder and her body has not been found.
North Down MP Sylvia Hermon raised the issue personally with British prime minister Tony Blair in Downing Street on Monday. She said Mr Blair instructed officials to see if the case could be included in those to be examined by a forensic expert expected to be named in the autumn.
Speaking at Stormont yesterday, Minister for Justice Michael McDowell told The Irish Times he had "no problem with that at all".
It was originally envisaged that such an appointee would only look into cases dating from before the signing of the Belfast Agreement in 1998. The prime minister's willingness to include the Dorrian case, as indicated to Ms Hermon, marks a departure.
The news was greeted positively by the Dorrian family. "We're really, really pleased. It's a big step forward for our campaign," said the woman's sister, Joanne.
However she asked: "Does that mean her name will be included automatically or does it mean a change in legislation? In any event, to hear that the Irish side is positive is fantastic." Ms Dorrian's maternal grandparents were both from Dublin and there are still close family members living in the Ballyfermot area.
Like Ms Hermon and the UUP, the SDLP has also said there should be no limit to the remit of any appointed specialist and that cost should not be a factor.
Sinn Féin says it suggested the appointment of such a specialist some years ago.
Three IRA victims were found in 1999 and another was uncovered in 2003.
In 1999 gardaí recovered the body of Eamon Molloy, left in a coffin in a graveyard in Co Louth, as well as the bodies of John McClory and Brian McKinney, whose remains were found after weeks of digging in a bog in Co Monaghan.
In 2003, the body of Jean McConville was found by accident on a beach in Co Louth.
Last month following a tip-off the body of Gareth O'Connor was found in Newry Canal two years after his murder. The following week, the IRA admitted and apologised for the killing of Kathleen Feeney in Derry in 1973 - a killing it had previously blamed on the British army.