Gardaí investigating the murder of Kyran Durnin from Co Louth are examining the access a violent offender had to the boy in the period before the last confirmed sighting of him as a six-year-old in 2022.
While the man now under investigation is not the only suspect in the case, gardaí are focused on his contacts with the child around the time it is believed he died. While Kyran was reported missing in August this year, detectives are working on the assumption he has been dead for two years.
The development comes after a week of intense activity, including the first two arrests in the inquiry since it began 3½ months ago, and a fresh search and dig at a house in Drogheda.
Gardaí used earth-moving machinery and a cadaver dog, used to locate buried human remains, as part of the search operation that began on Thursday and concluded on Friday. Another property, also in Drogheda, was the scene of a shorter search on Thursday.
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The second suspect arrested this week, a man in his 20s, was released from Garda custody on Friday evening after being questioned for 24 hours on suspicion of murder. A woman, also in her 20s, was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of murder and released without charge on Wednesday evening.
Despite searches in Dundalk in October and at the two properties in Drogheda this week, Kyran’s remains have not been found.
Garda Commissioner Drew Harris on Friday pointed to how crucial it was to find Kyran’s body to progress the murder investigation. He said he believed the boy has been dead since soon after he was last seen alive in May 2022, meaning two years had elapsed before concerns for Kyran’s welfare were flagged with the Garda by Tusla at the end of August.
“I do not think that he is eight years old. I think Kyran died at the age of six years old,” Mr Harris said, speaking to media at the Garda College in Templemore, Co Tipperary. “That’s where our investigative effort then is focused upon, focused upon that period in May 2022 and what happened to Kyran after that last, in effect, confirmed sighting, and how we can develop that on from there.
“We have to make every effort to try and discover then where Kyran’s body was – and it’s an awful expression – but has been disposed of.”
Asked if he was optimistic the Garda investigation could bring about closure in the case, Mr Harris said: “Optimism is not a word that comes to mind when speaking about this. I know it’s a very professional inquiry that’s doing its very best with the information that we have.”
A significant strand of the investigation is also determining how another young boy appears to have been presented as Kyran during a meeting with Tusla and at guesthouse accommodation earlier this year.
Garda sources said a very small number of murder cases have proceeded to trial despite the victim’s body not being found. However, almost all had either failed to secure convictions or ended with a conviction being overturned.
One exception is the case of undercover British soldier Robert Nairac – who was shot by the IRA in Co Louth in 1977 – which resulted in a conviction for murder and related crimes, even though his body was never found. The conviction was based on one of the IRA gang making admissions and implicating others.
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