Criminal case being considered in death of three-year-old Daniel Aruebose

Criminal proceedings are being considered over the death of a young boy whose body was discovered in an unmarked grave in north Dublin last year, four years after his last-known sighting, an inquest has heard.

Daniel Aruebose was last seen alive at the age of three at his home at The Gallery, Turvey Walk, Donabate, Co Dublin about five years ago.

It is believed the toddler, who has been described as “a happy, vibrant young boy”, died at some point in 2021 without his death being reported to the authorities.

At the opening of the inquest at Dublin District Coroner’s Court on Thursday, Det Insp Seán Earley applied for an adjournment of the case under Section 25 (1) of the Coroners Act on the basis that criminal proceedings were being contemplated.

Earley confirmed the Garda investigation into the circumstances of the boy’s death was continuing.

Forensic scientist Gillian Lavelle told the inquest that DNA tests were needed to provide evidence of Daniel’s formal identification by proving the remains were those of the biological child of Maria Aruebose and Ciarán Dirrane.

The witness, who works with Forensic Science Ireland, said three different DNA profiling techniques including the standard autosomal DNA test were used.

The inquest heard DNA samples were originally provided by Daniel’s mother and his paternal uncle, Matthew Dirrane, with another sample provided at a later stage by Ciarán Dirrane.

Lavelle said the test findings showed strong support that the remains were those of Daniel as they were two million times more likely to be those of the biological child of Aruebose and Dirrane than of some unknown, unrelated individual.

No reference was made to the cause of Daniel’s death by coroner Myra Cullinane.

Cullinane granted the application for a six-month adjournment and listed the case for a further update for May 12th, 2027.

No relatives of the deceased attended the brief hearing, although Maria Aruebose was represented by her solicitor, Martin O’Donnell.

Daniel, who was born on December 12th, 2017, lived in an apartment in Donabate with his parents for most of his life.

Although he had been in foster care for a period, he was subsequently reunited with his parents whose care of their son was supervised by Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, until 2020.

Daniel’s disappearance first came to light when a check on a back-to-school allowance claim for the boy found he was not listed at a named school, which raised concern about his welfare and whereabouts.

Officials at the Department of Social Protection alerted Tusla about the issue, and Tusla notified gardaí about its concerns on August 29th, 2025.

A murder investigation was launched after the boy’s skeletal remains were discovered and carefully exhumed from a burial site on open ground in Donabate in September 2025 following an extensive search by gardaí lasting over two weeks.

Gardaí have also liaised with law enforcement authorities in several other jurisdictions including the US, Brazil, France, Australia, Portugal and the UK as well as Interpol and the UAE embassy.

Two individuals – one male and one female, both aged in their 20s – have been arrested as part of the investigation.

The two suspects – including the male, who had been extradited to Ireland from Brazil – were subsequently released without charge.

It was confirmed last month that the body of Daniel, who would now be eight years old, remained in Dublin City Mortuary in Whitehall, as nobody had contacted the coroner’s office in relation to funeral arrangements.