When Daniel Aruebose’s grandparents received an unexpected knock at the door on August 28, they had no idea that he existed – let alone that he’d been missing for more than four years.

The call was simply a routine check-up from the Ireland’s Department of Social Protection (DSP) over suspicions of fraud – merely following up on unclaimed allowances from Daniel’s mother, Maria, and lack of registered details including his school and GP.

What began as a simple allowance check quickly raised alarm bells, as authorities had wondered whether Daniel, who would now be almost eight, was living with her parents.

It took almost three weeks of digging in a vast marshy wasteland in north Dublin to find the skeletal remains of three-year-old Daniel Aruebose – the grave where he lay was so shallow that gardaí believe it was dug by hand.

The little boy with huge brown eyes disappeared in the summer of 2021, but nobody reported him missing. Indeed, it has since been revealed that many of his relatives didn’t even know he existed. Now, because Daniel’s remains were so decomposed, there is a very real fear that we may never know exactly how or why he died.

This week, the head of the Irish child and family agency Tusla admitted that the case was ‘absolutely harrowing’. However, Kate Duggan also said that after an internal inquiry, the organisation had uncovered ‘no child protection concerns’.

They, however, had not seen their daughter for 10 years after Maria left home at 18 in a bid to seek ‘independence’ – and were unaware that she’d had a relationship in the years since and that she had a young son.

Earlier this month, partial remains believed to be Daniel’s were found by Gardaí after a 16-day search of scrubland in County Dublin. However, an initial post-mortem examination, DNA and toxicology tests have initially proved inconclusive as to the cause of death.

Daniel’s parents, Maria Aruebose and Ciaran Dirrane, have since told Gardaí their son died in his sleep in July 2021 when he was just three years old, and, ‘panicking’, they buried him in a shallow grave nearby, concealing his death from authorities.

But mystery remains over what really happened to Daniel on that night more than four years ago, as officers continue to investigate the fate of the toddler, who by official accounts had ‘not existed’ for several years.

This week, a source told the Irish Independent that Daniel’s grandparents only saw a photograph of him on the news, and were left in ‘complete shock’.

They, however, had not seen their daughter for 10 years after Maria left home at 18 in a bid to seek ‘independence’ – and were unaware that she’d had a relationship in the years since and that she had a young son.

Earlier this month, partial remains believed to be Daniel’s were found by Gardaí after a 16-day search of scrubland in County Dublin. However, an initial post-mortem examination, DNA and toxicology tests have initially proved inconclusive as to the cause of death.

Daniel’s parents, Maria Aruebose and Ciaran Dirrane, have since told Gardaí their son died in his sleep in July 2021 when he was just three years old, and, ‘panicking’, they buried him in a shallow grave nearby, concealing his death from authorities.

But mystery remains over what really happened to Daniel on that night more than four years ago, as officers continue to investigate the fate of the toddler, who by official accounts had ‘not existed’ for several years.

At the time Daniel was born, his parents were living in shared accommodation in Portmarnock in the north of the city and, reportedly believing it would be inappropriate to raise a child there, gave him up for adoption.

For the next 18 months, Daniel was placed into state care with Tusla, Ireland’s family and child agency, and lived with a foster family – who have disclosed how the ‘sweet’ little boy quickly became ‘a part of the family’.

In 2019, however Maria had a ‘change of heart’ and wanted her son back, having now moved into an apartment in the Gallery in Donabate. In a bid to reunify Daniel with his birth family, the request was granted.

In interviews with Gardaí in regard to the ongoing investigation, the parents have ‘unequivocally maintained’ their story about what happened to their son.

According to the account given by his mother, Maria, Daniel was found ‘ice cold’ in his bed in mid-July 2021 when she got up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom.

The parents said they attempted to revive their dead son in bath water, but to no avail.

Realising he was dead, they ‘panicked’ and decided to conceal it from the authorities, placing his body in a holdall bag, walking for three kilometres and burying him in a shallow grave in the Portrane Road wasteland.

However, an initial account to Gardaí contradicted their story, the Irish Independent reported.

It has since been revealed that Daniel’s mother Maria had placed an advert for a childminder in the same year that he died to look after.

while she went ‘on holiday’.

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Daniel’s mother Maria had placed an advert for a childminder to look after him for a week while she went ‘on holiday’ in the same year that he died

The posted advertisement required that any applicants be ‘garda vetted’, and offered €600 for the job.

As revealed by the Sunday World, Maria posted on Irish jobsboard suresitter.com in 2021 from their home in Donabate: ‘Looking for a babysitter to mind my child for 1 week while me and my partner are on holiday’.

The post added that the sitter would need a driving licence. Maria added: ‘We are looking for a child minder to babysitter put little boy for 1 week while we are away on holiday.

‘Ideally must be garda vetted. We also have a little dog that would also need minding. Feel free to message me if interested.’

Information on the site’s website states it is ‘not a childcare agency’ and ‘we do not personally meet or vet the caregivers on our platform.’

However, it adds: ‘We do, however, carry out a number of automated checks and security measures.

‘Our aim is to provide parents, like you, with the tools necessary to enable you to quickly and easily source and self-vet childminders, nannies, au pairs, and babysitters.’

An interview with Daniel’s foster sister, who is in her 20s, provides the greatest known insight into what the little boy himself was actually like – years before he tragically went missing.

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State Pathologists Dr. Heidi Okkers (right) and Dr. Yvonne McCartney leaving the scene in Donabate – with tributes left at the scene

Speaking anonymously, she told the Journal that she saw him ‘as a brother’ and he ‘became a part of the family quickly’.

Daniel had been placed in their care from birth in December 2017 and she last saw him in summer 2019, during which time she lived with him, and later helped care for him.

‘He was the sweetest little baby ever, we were all absolutely beside ourselves [when we got him]. He was so cute,’ she said.

‘We always joked that every child we fostered looked like part of the family, but obviously Danny didn’t, and people had questions, they were just curious about him.’

She added: ‘He was so clever. I obviously might be a little biased, but he already had a strong personality, he loved dancing, he loved laughing, and he loved showing off that he understood you.’

Similarly to Daniel’s grandparents, they family said they’ve been left ‘angry’ at the news of his disappearance, and the sister said her mother was left ‘sobbing’.

A fortnight since the remains were found, formal identification is still pending, while a cause of death has not been established.

Maria and Ciaran, who is originally from the west of Ireland and now lives in Brazil, are said to be cooperating fully with police enquiries.

Concealing a child’s death and secretly disposing of their remains are both summary offences, meaning they have not been charged.

A question mark remains over what happened to the young boy, and according to Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan, ‘people out there have information’.

Garda commissioner Justin Kelly said that week that investigators ‘still have a way to go’, according to Sunday World.

Speaking at the Association of Garda Superintendents annual conference on Wednesday last week, he said: ‘We will do everything we can. The post-mortem has concluded, the post-mortem has obviously come back.

‘They’re with the investigators – they’re looking at those at the moment.

‘We’ve obviously many other avenues that we have to go with. We’ve still a way to go with this before we’re able to talk publicly about it, maybe some of those outcomes of that.

‘I just want to compliment everyone behind all that, that was really tough work for them. And all the investigators that are following down all the various investigative leads.’

The Dáil heard calls last week for a statutory inquiry into Daniel’s death.

Tusla was involved with Daniel’s care from 2017 at the request of the family but services stopped in 2020, when he was two.

However, social workers had more than 60 direct interactions with his family before 2020, including unannounced home visits.