Detectives investigating the disappearance and assumed murder of Co Louth boy Kyran Durnin are planning a third arrest in the case. The Irish Times understands evidence is being gathered in the current phase of the year-long inquiry to lay the ground for the arrest.
The person facing arrest is not suspected of direct involvement in the boy’s killing. However, gardaí strongly suspect they made significant efforts to frustrate the inquiry, to the point of committing a criminal offence.
Murder detectives also suspect the person has crucial information about what happened to Kyran and about his life in the period before he vanished.
Marking exactly one year since Kyran, and his mother Dayla Durnin, were reported missing, gardaí have issued an appeal for people with information to come forward.
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“Despite extensive and ongoing enquiries carried out by Gardaí to date, An Garda Síochána have been unable to locate Kyran or determine what has happened to Kyran,” the Garda said.
To date over 570 investigative tasks have been undertaken, two suspects arrested and three properties, in Drogheda and Dundalk, subjected to intrusive searches. More that 29,500 hours of CCTV footage has been gathered for review, in a process that was ongoing.
The last confirmed sighting of Kyran in public was at the start of the summer in 2022, when he was six years old, at his national school in Dundalk. However, staff there had been told he was planning to go to school in the North the following year, meaning when he did not return in September it did not arouse suspicion.
Gardaí have been unable to find any evidence Kyran was alive after the period of early summer 2022. No new images of him were shared on social media and there is no evidence of birthday or Christmas presents having been bought for him.
Gardaí believe Kyran was killed in about June 2022 and that his remains were disposed of to conceal what had happened. However, more than two years elapsed before the alarm was raised.
Tusla, the child and family agency, had made several efforts last year to see the boy to check on his welfare. On August 29th last year, having been unable to locate the boy, Tusla flagged their concerns for his welfare with gardaí. A member of Kyran’s extended family went to the gardaí the following day and made a missing person’s report, claiming Kyran and his mother had just vanished a day earlier.
Gardaí immediately began a missing persons inquiry, and eventually located Dayla Durnin. However, when no evidence could be found Kyran was alive, the case was upgraded to a murder inquiry in mid October.
Last December a man and a woman were arrested for questioning on suspicion of Kyran’s murder but were released without charge. The arrested man, Anthony Maguire (36), from Drogheda, was friendly with members of Kyran’s family, and would have had access to the boy. However, he strongly denied any involvement in Kyran’s death. Days after being questioned and released he took his own life.
