Gardaí searching for the remains of missing man Trevor Deely are set to begin "targeted digs" on the three-acre site in Chapelizod, Dublin this week.
The investigation, which is set to enter its fourth week, has reached a “critical” point, senior gardaí have said.
The 22-year-old was last seen on December 8th, 2000 when he vanished near Haddington Road in Dublin’s south inner city.
Gardaí have said they are prepared to continue searching the site for the next month if necessary, after already working on the dig since August 9th.
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It is understood they are confident that they can begin targeting key locations on the site now that dense undergrowth has been removed.
The site in west Dublin has been cleared of trees and other vegetation to allow extensive excavation to begin with specialist equipment.
“We are not giving up; we have reached a critical point in this investigation and are confident that Trevor will be found. Everyone on this investigation wants to bring closure for Trevor’s family.
"The past few weeks has been a difficult time for them as they anxiously wait for answers. We are prepared to continue this search for the next month if necessary," a senior source told The Irish Times.
Shot
Gardaí are working off information suggesting Mr Deely was shot dead by a known criminal that he had a chance encounter with in Dublin’s south inner city.
Hopes of a breakthrough in the case were raised when gardaí recovered a gun in the first week of the search but sources have downplayed the significance of this being connected to Mr Deely’s case.
The man identified as the suspect was active in drug dealing and armed robbery and living off the earnings of prostitution at the time.
Mr Deely (22) was last captured on CCTV passing the Bank of Ireland ATM machine on Haddington Road at 4.14am on December 8th, 2000.
In April gardaí published enhanced CCTV images showing him conversing with an unidentified man during his last known movements.
The enhanced footage captures a man dressed in black outside the rear entrance of Bank of Ireland's asset management offices on Wilton Terrace, Dublin 2, where Mr Deely worked. The man appears at 2.59am and takes cover behind a pillar. He waits there for approximately 35 minutes.
At 3.34am, moments before Mr Deely approaches his place of work, the man steps out onto the footpath and follows Mr Deely to the back gate of the bank, before conversing with him for a few moments.
Exactly 18 months before he disappeared, another person was violently killed close to the location where Mr Deely’s last-known movements were recorded on CCTV.
Sinead Kelly, a 21-year-old who worked in prostitution, was stabbed to death on the banks of the Grand Canal off Baggot Street in June 1998.
Like Mr Deely’s disappearance, Ms Kelly’s killing also remains unsolved.
The search currently under way for Mr Deely’s remains is the most significant development in the case since his disappearance 16 years ago.