Mum of missing boy feared dead shows Gardai new burial spot

Mother of the missing boy attended the search scene again on Saturday evening, accompanied by her solicitor

The mother of a missing boy feared dead at the centre of a major Garda search has shown officers a new spot in the stretch of land in north County Dublin where she claims the boy’s remains were secretly buried.

The search for the boy, who was just over three when he was last seen in 2021, commenced last Monday on a stretch of marshy lands on the Portrane Road in Donabate after the child’s mother initially indicated a spot where she said the child is buried.

However, the Irish Mirror can reveal the mother attended the search scene again on Saturday evening, accompanied by her solicitor, Martin O’Donnell of Morgan Redmond Solicitors in Swords, and investigators from Swords Garda Station, where she pointed out a new area where she claims she is ‘adamant’ the child is buried.

The search now continues in the new spot as dozens of officers scour the stretch of land, which is around 4km from the apartment block where the child was last seen alive.

The mother – who was born in Africa but has lived in Ireland since she was a child – continues to maintain that the child passed away in his sleep from natural causes.

She claims she and the child’s father – who is Irish but has since moved to South America – panicked when they discovered the boy dead in his bed. However, in their panic they did not contact emergency services.

Both the boy’s mother and father continue to be spoken to informally by investigators and sources say both are co-operating.

And sources say they both are saying the same thing – that they discovered the boy dead in his bed and panicked and buried him in the marshy lands nearby.

A fingertip search has been carried out of the search area by specialist Gardaí – who will now move to the new spot the mother pointed out on Saturday evening as the secret burial site and continue the search there.

A cadaver dog, which has been specially trained to detect human remains as well as the scent of death, was brought back to the scene on Friday. The dog was first brought to the scene on Tuesday.

Although nothing has been found as of Sunday – nearly a week after the land was sealed off – Gardaí do suspect the child is buried in the area.

The investigation commenced last Friday week, August 29, after Gardaí received an urgent referral from Tusla – the Child and Family Agency.

It is understood the alarm was first raised when the child’s mother tried to claim child benefit payments from the Department of Social Protection for the little boy.

Staff became suspicious when she was unable to provide proof that the boy had been attending school or even receiving treatment from a doctor to back up her application.

Social welfare workers contacted Tusla – who then got in touch with Gardaí. That prompted the major probe that saw officers seal off an apartment in the Gallery area of Donabate, as well as a site of marshy lands around 4km from the apartment block.

The child had been in the care of Tusla for around a year after he was born as his parents were planning to have him adopted.

However, the parents changed their mind and took the boy back – and that ended their interactions with Tusla.

This is the second child living here who was missing for years before the case came to the attention of authorities.

Kyran Durnin, from Drogheda, who would be nine if he was still alive, was reported missing in August 2024 and a murder investigation was launched that October. That investigation continues.

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