Gardaí investigating the disappearance of Kyran Durnin (8) have made a second arrest as the murder inquiry gains momentum following the unexpected return to Ireland of one of the chief suspects in the case.
On Thursday morning gardaí arrested a man on suspicion of Kyran’s murder and began searches at two houses in Co Louth, with a cadaver dog being used to check for human remains. The suspect’s detention follows the arrest of a woman on Tuesday morning, also on suspicion of murder.
The woman, who is in her 20s, has since been released without charge and has denied having any knowledge of what happened to Kyran. However, it is understood she engaged with detectives while being interviewed rather than availing of her right to make no comment.
The investigation team has closely reviewed her responses, checking them against other witness statements, and decided to arrest the second suspect on Thursday morning.
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“The man is being detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984 at a Garda station in the east of the country,” the Garda said in a brief statement. “Investigating gardaí have also commenced searches at two locations, domestic houses, in Drogheda.
“The purpose of these searches is to discover any evidence which might provide us with information as to Kyran’s current whereabouts or what has happened to Kyran.”
On Thursday afternoon the Garda confirmed the search at one of the houses had already been completed but the activity at the second property would “continue for a period of time”.
Excavations are expected to be carried out in what gardaí described as an “intrusive search” of the property and garden. A specialist cadaver dog was also brought on to the site, to aid in the location of any potential human remains.
The search is being carried out by the divisional search team, supported by the Garda National Technical Bureau and Forensic Science Ireland,” the Garda added.
Though Kyran would now be aged eight, the last confirmed sighting of him was at national school in Dundalk, Co Louth, in the May-June period in 2022, when he was six. Detectives believe he has been dead since 2022 and that he was murdered, with his remains concealed.
However, gardaí have been unable to determine when he died, where and how. Though the case is a murder investigation, gardaí cannot completely rule out the possibility he may have died accidentally and his death was concealed for some reason.
One of the key challenges for the investigation team has been piecing together Kyran’s movements in 2022 after he was last seen in school. They are trying to sift through several statements offering diverging accounts around where Kyran was and what care arrangements were in place for him at that time.
Though an investigation has been under way since late August, this week’s arrests are the first in the case. The female suspect was detained after she unexpectedly returned from abroad and investigating gardaí were made aware of her presence in the Republic.
With the assistance of a foreign police force, gardaí had already established her location abroad and made contact with her, though she was unable to provide any information about Kyran’s whereabouts or what had happened to him. Gardaí were unable to arrest her for questioning because she was not in the State at the time. They were also unable to extradite her because that process can only be used to return a suspect to the Republic to face charges, rather than for the purpose of questioning a suspect.
Gardaí in October carried out extensive searches at a property on Emer Terrace in Dundalk – where Kyran and his family lived. This included excavating the back yard and nearby open land, though Kyran’s remains were not found there.
Rhonda Tyson, Kyran’s grandmother and Dayla Durnin’s mother, was interviewed in September by Andrew Spearman of the Drogheda Life media outlet, telling him her daughter and grandson went missing earlier this year.
Ms Tyson told Mr Spearman her daughter and grandson had spent the night of August 28th into 29th, this year, in her home in Drogheda. She said she last saw her daughter and grandson in her home at about 11pm on August 28th and the following morning they were gone.
The Irish Times has established that when the child and family welfare agency, Tusla, tried to contact the family on August 29th, its staff could not locate Kyran. Later that day, Tusla staff reported their significant concerns for the boy’s welfare to the Garda. The following day, August 30th, a family member went to the Garda and made a missing persons report relating to Kyran and his mother.
Gardaí immediately launched a missing persons inquiry and when that failed to find the missing mother and son, a public appeal for information was made by the Garda on September 4th.
However, in the following weeks, Ms Durnin was found in the UK, without her son, and on October 16th the missing persons appeal, and investigation, relating to her was stood down. But on the same day the Garda issued a statement saying it had failed to find any evidence since its investigation began at the end of August that Kyran was alive and that it had launched a murder investigation.
Gardaí have been unable to find any evidence Kyran was alive after he was last seen at school in Dundalk, Co Louth, in June, 2022, at the end of the academic year. The school was led to believe Kyran would be attending school in Newry, Co Down, from September, 2022.
However, there is no evidence he ever attended school there and no evidence he was alive after the summer of 2022. While there were records of Kyran having been brought to a Tusla meeting this year and staying with his mother in guest house accommodation in Co Louth, gardaí do not believe that boy was Kyran.
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