A man deported to the Republic has been arrested on suspicion of the murder of Daniel Aruebose, the boy whose remains were found buried on waste ground outside Donabate, north Dublin, last year.
The arrested man, who is in his 20s and is Irish, was known to the dead child, as was a woman arrested for questioning last year. Both suspects have been central to the investigation since concerns for Daniel’s welfare and his whereabouts were first raised late last August.
Garda Headquarters confirmed the man detained on Tuesday was being questioned on suspicion of murdering the boy, who was last seen alive in 2021 when aged about 3½ years.
“He is currently detained under provisions of Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984, at a Garda station in the Dublin Region,” the Garda statement said of the suspect, adding investigations were ongoing.
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The Irish Times understands gardaí have been in close contact with the authorities in Brazil, where the man has been living in recent years. The Garda investigation team learned of the suspect’s whereabouts in Brazil and had knowledge of his arrest there last year related to his immigration status, which was irregular.
Following his deportation from Brazil to Ireland, via Portugal, he was arrested on Tuesday after arriving into Dublin Airport and taken for questioning.
He can be interviewed for up to 24 hours before gardaí must charge him with an offence or release him without charge. His deportation and arrest by gardaí for questioning were both expected, though the timing came as a surprise.
Though Daniel was last seen alive in 2021, and gardaí believe he was killed at that time, nobody appeared to notice his absence and the alarm was not raised. Eventually, last August, routine checks on a social welfare payment in respect of the child led to concerns for him.
Officials carrying out the checks could find no trace of his whereabouts. Those concerns were escalated to Tusla, the child and family agency, and the Garda.
Gardaí based at Swords Garda station then contacted the man now in custody, and the woman detained last year. On the basis of their initial conversations the site just outside Donabate was sealed off. After a search of more than two weeks, Daniel’s remains were found there on September 17th last.
Investigations since then have led gardaí to believe Daniel was at times being neglected and living in chaotic circumstances. He spent some of his short life living in The Gallery apartments in Donabate.
It is understood the man in custody communicated with the Garda investigation team last year through a third party. The woman arrested last year, before being released without charge, has remained in Ireland and also assisted the Garda inquiry.
The suspects have told gardaí Daniel died of natural circumstances and, in the panic after his death, his remains were was taken to the land just outside Donabate and buried there.
The case was initially treated as a missing person’s inquiry. However, Garda Headquarters said on December 11st last, on the eve of what would have been Daniel’s eighth birthday, the investigation had become a homicide inquiry.
That confirmed they suspected the boy was killed in a foul play scenario and at the hands of a third party.
