The Garda investigation into what happened to Daniel Aruebose will move to a new phase now the remains of the child, who died and was secretly buried in a north Dublin field as a three-year-old, have been found.
Garda sources said the discovery of Daniel’s skeletal remains represents a big breakthrough in the case. The investigation team, based in Swords Garda station, north Dublin, is hoping a postmortem will establish how Daniel died, including whether he was the victim of foul play.
One Garda source familiar with the investigation said “at the very least” a number of people were facing the prospect of being charged over failing to report Daniel’s death and concealing his death by illegally burying his remains.
Other, more serious, charges, up to and including murder, are not ruled out, however.
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“Everything will depend on the [results of the] postmortem,” the source said. “It’s not always a foregone conclusion a postmortem on skeletal remains will give you a cause [of death]. But there’s a lot more to work on now.”
Gardaí have tried hard to cultivate a relationship with those close to Daniel and others who knew him, pursuing the strategy of keeping them close in recent weeks because they were sources of intelligence.
Some of that intelligence came from a woman and led to the discovery of the boy’s remains. That woman went to the Donabate site accompanied by gardaí at least twice to point out the burial ground.
However, the people who have been speaking to gardaí also claim Daniel died one night in his sleep, and when they were unable to revive him they panicked and decided to secretly bury him. That version of accounts, which sets out a very unusual scenario, will now be tested by the postmortem.
Gardaí have been searching the plot of land on Portrane Road, just outside Donabate, north Dublin, since the end of August and on Wednesday found the skeletal remains of the child, along with items of clothing.
[ Search for missing boy ‘traumatic’ for local Donabate communityOpens in new window ]
The remains were still at the site on Wednesday night, pending the arrival of a pathologist and forensic anthropologist. They were due to examine the remains in situ before their removal to a morgue for a full postmortem.
“The remains will be subject of careful and sensitive exhumation from the current burial site. Formal identification of the remains will now have to be carried out, including DNA analysis,” Garda Headquarters said in a statement.
In the same statement, An Garda Síochána named Daniel for the first time and also released a photograph of him, which was taken when he was aged two and a half years, approximately one year before his death.
Garda sources said Daniel’s name and photograph were not released before now because Daniel’s parents, and other people who knew the boy, have been speaking to gardaí for the last three weeks, since the inquiry began.
His mother came from an African country as a child to live in Ireland, is an Irish citizen and still lives in Dublin. His father is Irish and has moved to South America in recent years. Whether he will be forced to return to Ireland will become clearer as the investigation continues to unfold.
Garda sources said the fact people close to Daniel have been co-operating with the investigation negated the need for arrests, either on suspicion of withholding information or directly related to Daniel’s death. Sources point out the boy’s death remains unexplained, meaning an early arrest was always unlikely.
Gardaí believe the co-operation of those who have been speaking to gardaí would have been put at risk if Daniel was named, as it may have led to the media identifying and contacting Daniel’s parents and other adults who were in his life.
Now that the remains have been found, however, gardaí are hopeful the publication of Daniel’s name and photograph might encourage others to come forward with information, however minor it may appear.
“There are probably people who knew Daniel and his parents who might not realise Daniel is the child at the centre of this search for the last few weeks,” said one source.
