Gardaí said this evening the postmortem on the body of a man found dead in a ditch in Co Meath showed he had been stabbed a number of times.
The badly decomposed human remains were found partially submerged in a ditch at Gilliamstown, Rathfeigh, Co Meath, by a farmer yesterday afternoon.
Further tests, including DNA tests and checking of dental records, are being carried out to establish the identity of the victim.
It is believed the dead man could be missing teenager Daniel McAnaspie. The 17-year-old Dubliner has been missing since February.
Gardaí have long feared he was killed and his remains dumped.
Daniel, from Finglas, has not been heard from since he was seen drinking in a housing estate in Blanchardstown in the early hours of Friday, February 26th.
He was seen at about 4.30pm the previous day close to Erin’s Isle GAA club, Finglas. He then went with friends to Blanchardstown. He spent a period drinking in a house on Whitestown Avenue. He was last seen on the street with others at 3.30am.
Extensive Garda searching has been carried out in an effort to find him and a major criminal investigation is ongoing.
Daniel, one of six siblings and whose parents are deceased, has been described as “vulnerable”. Alan Shatter TD told the Dáil in March the teenager was in State care when he disappeared.
Crimestoppers had offered a €10,000 reward for information that would locate him.