Officers investigating the suspected murder of an eight-year-old boy in Ireland are searching his former family home, police have said.
Irish police said last week they received a report Kyran Durnin was last seen in Drogheda, Co Louth, on 30 August.
Officers said he is presumed dead and confirmed a murder investigation has been launched.
Local media has reported he may have been missing for months, while state broadcaster RTE said police believe he may have been killed more than two years ago.
As of Tuesday, officers are searching a house in Dundalk, a town in Co Louth close to the Northern Ireland border, after being granted an order by the District Court.
In an update on Tuesday morning, Chief Superintendent Alan McGovern said the house, garden and adjoining ground will be searched, with forensic examinations also expected.
The home’s current tenants are not believed to be linked to the boy’s disappearance, Mr McGovern said, adding the house is known to have been Kyran’s family home for a number of years until May 2024.
“The purpose of these searches is to discover any evidence which may provide us with information as to Kyren’s whereabouts, or what has happened to Kyren,” he said.
“I must emphasise that the current tenants of this house are not connected in any way with Kyren or his disappearance.”
Despite “extensive enquiries”, police have not been able to locate the boy or find any evidence he is still alive, he added.
However, Mr McGovern did confirm Kyran had been a student at a local school up to “approximately the end of the 2021-2022 primary school year”.
He also repeated the police’s appeal for anyone with information – “no matter how insignificant it may seem” – to come forward.
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