Man questioned over ‘murder’ of missing boy, 8, found dead

A suspect in the murder of missing eight-year-old Kyran Durnin has been found dead.

Kyran, from Co Louth in Ireland, was reported missing along with his mother Dayla in August this year, but police believe he was killed two years ago. Dayla was later found without him in Great Britain.

Two people arrested in connection with his murder have since been released without charge.

One of those – a man in his 30s – has now been found dead at a house in Drogheda, which was searched while he was under arrest last week.

The unnamed man, who has a history of violent offending, had access to Kyran in the period before the boy’s last known sighting, The Irish Times reports.

Kyran’s remains have not been found, despite searches in Dundalk and Drogheda since October, when the missing person case was upgraded to a murder investigation.

The deceased man is suspected of having covered up Kyran’s disappearance by misleading child protection services, The Irish Times reports.

The man’s death is believed to be a ‘personal tragedy’, police said.

In a statement, police said: ‘Earlier today, Tuesday, December 17, 2024, Gardaí and emergency services were alerted following the discovery of a body of a male aged in his 30s in a domestic residence in Drogheda, County Louth.

‘The local Coroner has been notified and a post-mortem examination will be arranged. The outcome of the post-mortem will determine the course of the investigation.

‘No additional information is available at this time.’

Kyran hasn’t been seen since May 2022, when he was a pupil at a primary school in the town of Dundalk, where he had lived in a house for several years.

After a missing person report was filed in August, police issued an appeal including a picture of him when he was about six years old, along with a description of the clothes he was wearing.

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