A man arrested on suspicion of the murder of Kyran Durnin is being questioned over a plot to deceive child welfare officers by presenting a ‘decoy child’ to them.
It is approaching the third Christmas since Kyran, who would now be aged eight, disappeared – but gardaí are closing in on as many as four chief suspects in the case. Two people, a man and a woman, have been arrested for questioning this week, while searches commenced on Thursday at two houses in Drogheda, Co. Louth.
The man arrested on Thursday remained in Garda custody last night. Officers suspect Kyran may have died in 2022 when he was aged six and that an elaborate cover-up was staged to shield his disappearance and death from the authorities.
On Tuesday, the chief suspect was arrested after returning to Ireland from the UK. She was later released without charge. In an update, gardaí said they arrested a man on Thursday on suspicion of involvement in Kyran’s murder. He is also being questioned about allegations that he was involved in helping cover up the child’s disappearance.
It is suspected that a ‘decoy child’ was brought in during meetings with Tusla in a bid to conceal Kyran’s death. Security sources have told the Irish Daily Mail that they believe Kyran’s murder was covered up by a ‘group of people known to him’ but that interrogations have so far not yielded any concrete results.
A source said: ‘What we know is that these people were both asked a very simple question – “Where is the child?” – and gardaí haven’t got any answer.’ A Garda spokesman said : ‘Gardaí investigating the disappearance and murder of Kyran Durnin have completed a search, commenced earlier, at one of the houses in Drogheda. Further details of this search are not being released for operational reasons.
‘The male arrested on suspicion of murder continues to be detained… at a Garda station in the east of the country. A search at the second house continues and is expected to continue for a period of time. The house and gardens will be subject to intrusive search and subject to technical and forensic examinations.’
Kyran was first officially reported missing from his grandmother’s home in Drogheda at the end of August. However, it has since emerged that gardaí believe he has been missing since approximately May 2022. Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, said it had engaged with the family but attempts to check on them from 2022 to this year were frustrated by the door not being answered.
The investigation has been ongoing for nearly three months but has repeatedly come to a standstill. A security source said: ‘There’s someone who has been somewhat cooperative with the guards but that goodwill only goes up to a certain point.
‘Gardaí are more than confident that these people know exactly what happened to this child. They also believe that there is a group of at least four people involved in what they believe is an elaborate cover-up. But they know they just need one person to step up and do the right thing and then this could be solved.
‘Officers have carried out significant numbers of door-to-door inquiries around areas where Kyran lived. Neighbours, teachers, parents of school friends have all been interviewed and they’ve done their best, but there was still nothing.’
