GARDAI investigating the murder of Kyran Durnin in Drogheda are today searching the home of a woman known to the missing boy.
The property and adjoining gardens are being forensically and technically examined by gardai hoping to uncover evidence linked to the six-year-old’s suspected killing.
The Louth native, who would be eight if he was still alive, was last seen in June 2022 and is currently missing, presumed dead.
A missing person’s investigation was launched in August 2024, with gardai filing the report being told that the young lad was seen in the town two days beforehand.
However, cops twigged he was probably dead after finding no evidence he was alive.
A trawl of CCTV from June 2022 also showed footage of a child who was presented as Kyran at meetings with officials.
Gardai, who upgraded the case to a murder probe in August of last year, believe Kyran was killed more than two years ago and his body hidden.
A large number of officers moved on the house shortly after 8am this morning.
A garda spokesperson said: “The purpose of the search is to discover any evidence which might provide us with information as to Kyrans’ current whereabouts or what has happened to Kyran.
“Investigating gardai have to date received extensive support from the public.
“Despite the public support and extensive and ongoing enquiries carried out by gardai to date, An Garda Siochana have been unable to locate Kyran. Kyran would now be eight years old.”
Gardai will continue to try and to establish exactly what happened surrounding the complex and highly sensitive case – but multiple questions still remain regarding the little boys disappearance.
WHEN DID KYRAN ACTUALLY GO MISSING?
Kyran and his mum Dayla Durnin were reported missing from their home in Drogheda on August 30, 2024.
Gardai were told that Kyran and his mum Dayla were last seen at around 11pm on August 28 – two days prior to the report being made – but gardai since established that this sighting was not accurate.
Around the same time, Tusla, the child protection agency, also reported the little boy’s disappearance to gardai.
An eagle-eyed social worker realised that a young boy brought to a meeting with child protection officials was not Kyran, and raised the alarm.
It is now understood that the schoolboy actually went missing in June 2022.
During the course of the investigation, Gardai trawled CCTV going back to June 2022 and found footage of a child who claimed to be Kyran at meetings with officials.
The videos and pictures they seized proved that he was last seen alive around June, 2022, and nobody has seen him since.
Investigators also confirmed that the last independent sighting of the child was in June 2022 at a national school in Dundalk, Co Louth.
WHY DID GARDAI LAUNCH A MURDER PROBE?
Garda Commissioner Drew Harris – a man with 34 years of policing experience in Northern Ireland, some of which were during The Troubles – said in all his years as a police officer, he has “never seen a set of circumstances” like those in this case.
It is extremely rare for gardai to upgrade missing persons cases to murder but despite multiple searches and repeated public appeals for help in tracing him, no sign of the boy has been found.
Gardai have not definitively ruled out the possibility that Kyran could have died accidentally.
A senior source told us previously that there has been a “huge amount of investigation” done so far.
They continued: “There is no substantive proof of life in regards to the boy and with the large amount of information gathered by Gardai in Drogheda, it has led to the belief that he was murdered.
“It is an incredibly complex investigation but every effort is being made to find out where the boy is and what happened.”
WHY IS A HOUSE BEING SEARCHED TODAY?
Gardai searching the house in Drogheda are hoping to uncover evidence related to the youngster.
A garda spokesperson confirmed that the purpose of the search is to “discover any evidence” that might provide them with information as to youngster’s “current whereabouts or what has happened to Kyran”.
The main focus of the gardai is Kyran’s location but his body has not been found despite multiple searches conducted over the last few months.
A number of houses in the area have already been searched and gardai are trying to narrow down a list of sites where they think Kyran could be buried.
WHO HAS BEEN ARRESTED?
A man and a woman were arrested two days apart in mid-December in connection with the case.
They were both released without charge within a day of being detained.
The man, who was named locally as 36-year-old Anthony Maguire, was found dead at his home in Drogheda just days after his release from custody.
Gardai have eliminated a number of men known to Kyran’s family from the murder probe.
It is understood that each of them contacted cops to declare they had nothing to do with the child’s disappearance.
WHY ARE THERE FEARS OVER RUMOURS?
Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan said gardai need to be given the time to complete the ongoing investigation and warned that officers should be allowed to do their job without focusing on rumours.
The Fianna Fail man said: “There is an investigation going on into that case at present, the gardai need to be given an opportunity in respect of carrying out that investigation.
“And I don’t think we should be focusing on rumours, let the gardai do their job.
“I’m concerned that it took so long to find out about the child being missing in the first place.
“But in fairness to An Garda Siochana, they’re doing their best to try and deal with this criminal investigation.”
A garda spokesperson said: “An Garda Siochana is aware of ongoing extensive public commentary on this investigation, including speculation, rumours and theories on what may have happened to Kyran, most of which is inaccurate and misinformed.
“Such ill-informed public commentary is not only disruptive to the Garda investigations but also adds to the trauma experienced by victims families.”
They added: “An Garda Siochana continue to appeal to the public, notwithstanding all the information that is in the public domain, do not assume that the investigation team know the information that you may have.
“Any information, no matter how insignificant it may seem, will be welcomed by the investigation team. This information will be treated in the strictest confidence.”
The Garda investigation team can be contacted at Drogheda Garda Station on 041 987 4200 , the Garda Confidential Line on (1800) 666 111 or any Garda Station.
