Hunt continues for child feared dead and buried on land

GARDAI may have to wait up to a week before they establish if the little boy missing and feared dead was secretly buried on this patch of land.

- BY MICHAEL O'TOOLE Crime and Defence Editor

As officers begin their third day of searching the stretch of wasteland in Donabate, north County Dublin, for the boy on Thursday, sources have told us the operation has some time to go.

"It is a big job and could take several days yet to complete," a source said.

Investigators have been given information that the child - who was last seen when he was aged three in 2021 - was buried at the site after he died.

They have been presented with two different versions of how he allegedly died. One is that he died at the hands of a man known to him. The second is that he died in his sleep and his parents panicked and secretly buried him rather than alerting authorities.

Sources say gardai believe the only way they will establish what really happened is if they do find his remains at the search site on the Portrane Road - and a postmortem establishes if he died from foul play or natural causes.

SENSITIVE