THE HEALTH Service Executive is liaising with the Garda as part of the investigation into the murder of a teenager who disappeared while in State care and whose badly decomposed body was found last week.
Daniel McAnaspie (17), originally from Finglas, Dublin, went missing in February while in the care of the HSE.
His body was found dumped in a drain on farmland at Rathfeigh, Co Meath, by a local landowner last Thursday afternoon. A postmortem revealed he had been stabbed to death.
The murdered teenager had been described as “vulnerable”. He was one of six siblings, and both of his parents are dead.
He was living at a HSE property in Donabate, north Co Dublin, run by HSE personnel when he failed to return there on the night of February 25th.
In a statement yesterday, the HSE extended its deepest sympathies to Daniel’s family.
It read: “The unexpected death of a child under any circumstances is a tragedy. The tragic death of a child while in care is an extremely serious matter and requires careful and detailed consideration to ensure that the lessons of this tragic event can be learned.”
Daniel’s death would be reviewed in accordance with recommendations of the Health Information and Quality Authority for the HSE which relate to serious incidents including deaths of children in care.
The statement added that the HSE was liaising with both the Garda and Daniel’s family.
Supt Dave Dowling of Blanchardstown Garda station, who is leading the investigation into the case, has renewed his appeal for information from the public. He believed a number of people had vital information that could solve the case.
Gardaí had presumed from early in their investigation that Daniel had come to harm and had most likely been killed and his body dumped in north Co Dublin or in Co Meath.
The investigation has now been formally upgraded to a murder inquiry.
Gardaí believe they know the identity of a small number of men who the dead teenager was with when he was last seen. Detectives hope that by interviewing these young men they may learn vital information about Daniel’s last moments.
Daniel was seen at about 4.30pm on Thursday, February 25th, 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.
Crimestoppers had offered a €10,000 reward for information that would locate him.
However, before his body was found last week there had been no sightings of him, he had not contacted his family or friends, and gardaí were unable to trace his mobile phone by electronic tracking.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Blanchardstown Garda station on (01) 666 7000 or the Garda confidential line on 1800 666 111.