By Michael O’Toole,Paul Healy
Copyright irishmirror
The post mortem examination of the suspected remains of missing child Daniel Aruebose came back as ‘inconclusive,’ we have learned. Gardai are now sending the partial skeletal remains, which were discovered on land in Donabate, North Dublin last week, for a CT scan, as they also await DNA results to formally identify the remains.
Sources say the post mortem examination which took place last Friday did not yield the answers yet needed to determine the next course of the Garda investigation. The inconclusive finding means officers are not yet satisfied with exactly how the young child died – and need further testing to try and determine a cause.
The remains are now being sent to a hospital for a CT scan to try and find those answers. It comes as sources yesterday said the decision to move the investigation on from a missing persons case still has not been made. But sources have stressed that gardai are taking their time with the probe – and are in no hurry to rule in or out murder, accidental death or other causes at this point.
They are also understood to be considering whether or not to make any arrests in relation to the failure to report a body. “There’s no plan at this point to make any arrests or to change the course of the investigation to homicide or otherwise,” a source said.
“This is an extremely complicated investigation, and once a person is arrested, it is a ticking clock. There’s no appetite to make any sudden moves here while there are tests remaining.”
Gardai recovered most of the believed skeletal remains of Daniel from the land last Wednesday – after searching the area that was identified by his mother – who is cooperating with the investigation. It is understood they are now eager to speak further to the child’s father – who is residing in Brazil. Investigators have spoken with the man over the phone – but they hope to meet him in person as soon as possible.
The parents of the child, who have been cooperating ever since officers knocked on the mother’s door on August 29, have insisted that they discovered him dead of apparent natural causes back in 2021. The mother of the child twice travelled to the search site to help identify the spot she told investigators she had buried the child four years ago. She is now understood to be residing in a new location outside of Donabate.
The parents have claimed that they moved Daniel to a bath before taking his remains to the field – several kilometres from the home they were living in at the Gallery Apartments roughly 3km away. Gardai are now speaking to residents of the apartments in the hope that the nearly issued photo of Daniel might spark memories of his last movements. Gardai are understood to be working to establish if the story told to them by the child’s parents stands up.
Tragic Daniel’s disappearance was only discovered when officials from the Department of Social Protection made checks on a social welfare payment related to him and were unable to determine his location earlier this year. The issue was flagged to Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, who in turn raised it with gardai.
On Thursday several more bouquets of flowers, teddy bears and balloons adorned the front gate of the search site in Donabate – as the community comes to terms with the horrendous tragedy.
One touching tribute note left by the site with flowers read: “So sorry Daniel that the world let you down.” Other notes said: “Rest in peace little man,” and “rest peacefully Angel.”
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