There are no immediate plans for gardaí to search another premises in the hunt for Kyran Durnin, the force said, as investigators have been hit by a ‘wall of silence’ by key witnesses.
It had been hoped that the search of Kyran’s former home on Emer Terrace in Dundalk, Co. Louth would yield some strong evidence. Gardaí also had high hopes that they would find Kyran’s body in the undergrowth at the residence.
However, after three days they found nothing of ‘serious evidential value’, sources said, and are now making their way through the mounds of statements they have received from members of the public since the call went out for support last week.
This is on top of collating phone data around Kyran’s estimated date of disappearance, which is in May of 2022.
Kyran, who would be eight years old this year, was reported missing along with his mother Dayla Durnin on August 30 this year, but after extensive investigations, gardaí upgraded their inquiry to murder.
Dayla was found alive and well in the UK at the end of August, but gardaí fear Kyran may have been dead for up to two years. The results of the search resulted in gardaí focusing on other avenues of information away from homes where he had he lived, including a deluge of statements from the public.
Kyran's mother, Dayla Durnin. Credit: Gardai
After deeming two people as ‘major suspects’ in the case, gardaí are now focused on their movements and are attempting to track their lives over the last two years, to ascertain the last time Kyran was verifiably alive.
Gardaí are essentially ‘working their way backwards’ with these people and attempting to create a timeline of their activities, who they were with and where they went next.
It had been thought the home of a relative of Kyran’s was next on the search list for officers as the youngster had often stayed at the property.
However, gardaí said there are ‘currently no active searches’ for the child, who is presumed dead.
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That home has been empty for the last week with neighbours saying they had not seen anyone connected to the Durnin family there for the last few days.
Sources stressed that this does not rule out the home being searched in the future but that warrants would have to be sought before they gained access.
‘This is a very fluid investigation,’ our source commented, adding that there are many strands being examined.
While gardaí are keeping tabs on the whereabouts of their chief suspects, multiple sources have told the Irish Daily Mail that making any arrest in the case is a double-edged sword.
‘It’s a question that is being asked a lot, and rightly so,’ a source said. ‘But gardaí in this case have to be extremely careful for a number of reasons.
‘In terms of the search in Dundalk, it was a bit of a blow for investigators as they had targeted that house due to specific intelligence, so to come away with not much, if anything, was frustrating.’
They added: ‘There are also those saying: “Why don’t you arrest so-and-so?” – and the reason is twofold. One, when you arrest someone for murder, it’s a Section 4 arrest.
‘This means you have 24 hours to charge or release someone with various add-ons for sleep and other aspects like going before a judge and requesting more time. That puts a ticking clock on the situation.
‘If nothing comes from those 24 hours, it’s a lot more difficult to arrest the same people again for the same thing. There needs to be more evidence. So, gardaí have to weigh up what the best of both worlds is.’
The source said that ‘the second aspect is a more simple one’, adding: ‘How can you arrest someone for murder when there’s no body, no crime scene or no cause of death? It has happened before, but it’s incredibly rare.
‘Considering the amount of eyes on this investigation, gardaí are doing things very carefully.
‘With regards to the people gardaí have been talking to about Kyran’s disappearance and death, it’s fair to say that they are now being hit with a wall of silence. There were conflicting stories at the start but there’s not anything now.’
Garda officials have continued to appeal to the public for any information on the case and urged them not to dismiss something they may deem unimportant. Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, said it has launched its own investigation into its handling of the case and confirmed that it had been in contact with Kyran’s family prior to him being reported missing.
The State’s Special Rapporteur on Child Protection, Caoilfhionn Gallagher, said the case was deeply disturbing.
*This article was originally published on Extra.ie.
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