Murder of Cameron Reilly may be linked to chip shop altercation

Gardaí are investigating if a confrontation outside a chip shop in Dunleer is linked to the murder of 18-year-old Cameron Reilly whose body was found on Saturday.

It is understood Cameron and another teenager were involved in some form of altercation in front of a fast food restaurant on the night of his murder. A post-mortem has confirmed the teenager was strangled to death some time on Saturday morning.

Gardaí are continuing to search for his phone which they believe could hold vital clues about his last movements and who was at the scene of his death. They believe it may have been stolen to cover up the killing.

“We would ask home and business owners in Dunleer to check their property including wheelie bins and waste skips. We would also ask anyone offered a phone for sale as described to contact us,” Inspector John O’Flaherty said.

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Anyone with information is asked to contact Drogheda Garda Station on 041-9874200, the Garda Confidential Line at 1800 666 111 or any Garda Station.

Investigators believe Cameron was hanging around with a large group of young people and that at least some of these may have been present when he was murdered, a source said.

They have downloaded CCTV footage from several areas around the town in an effort to track Cameron’s final movements.

Cameron's body was found by a dog-walker on Saturday morning in a field popular with young people for meeting up and drinking in the Co Louth village.

On Monday hundreds of people attended a candlelit vigil in Dunleer church and left messages about the popular young man on colourful post-it notes.

Cameron’s mother and maternal grandparents also attended.

Gardaí on Tuesday said that his phone - an iPhone 8 - has not been found and while “lots of people have been interviewed,” there have not been any arrests.

Gardaí believe the key to solving what happened lies in the community in Dunleer and they have appealed for people his own age who know anything about what happened on Friday night/Saturday morning to contact them in confidence.

Many of his friends and peers are co-operating with gardaí, including showing investigators the spots where they used to socialise. However gardaí are continuing to appeal for anyone with information to come forward.

“This investigation is into a murder and nothing else, there maybe a fear of talking to the gardaí but we would ask them to talk to us. What may not be a significant piece of information to them, could be significant to the investigation,” a senior garda said.

Cameron’s phone is an Apple iPhone 8 (64GB) with a green hard back cover.

Meanwhile more than €7,000 has been raised by a GoFundMe page for Cameron’s family within 24 hours of being established.

It was set up by Ray Buckley who said, “Cameron Reilly is the only child of Tracy and Snowy. He was tragically taken from them in unimaginable circumstances.”

“The Reilly/Glass family have lost their child, they are facing a situation that no person on this earth should have to face. They are parents saying goodbye to their child.”

“Any and all funds raised on this page will go directly to the parents of Cameron Reilly to help them in the weeks and months ahead.”