A man found dead after he was arrested over the murder of Kyran Durnin left a note behind, but did not say if he knew what had happened to the murdered schoolboy.

Anthony Maguire was found dead at a house in Drogheda, Co Louth, that was the subject of a search operation by gardaí investigating the schoolboy’s suspected murder.

Gardaí are treating Mr Maguire’s death as a tragedy, and no foul play is suspected. A post-mortem examination will now be carried out.

Mr Maguire was suspected of being involved with a “decoy child” who was presented as the missing Co Louth schoolboy on two occasions.

The 36-year-old was arrested last Thursday on suspicion of murder and later released without charge.

It is understood he made no admissions while in custody.

“A note was left, but it made nothing clear in relation to Kyran’s suspected murder and apologies were made to certain people,” a source said.

The problem for investigators now is there was “nothing in that note that gave any indication of where the boy is”.

More developments in the case are expected in the coming days.

A woman in her 20s who was known to Mr Maguire was arrested last Tuesday after she ­re-entered Ireland following a period of time abroad.

She was detained in a garda station in the east of the country, where she was questioned for 24 hours before being released without charge.

She has since returned overseas.

Kyran Durnin

Garda teams had searched Mr Maguire’s Drogheda home and gardens last week after his arrest.

A cadaver dog was used in the operation, along with a mini-digger.

Kyran, who would now be aged eight, was reported missing by his grandmother last August 30.

Gardaí subsequently said the boy had been taken out of his school in Dundalk, Co Louth, at the end of May 2022, when he would have been six, and had not been seen alive since.

A murder investigation was launched in October.

A search of a house and back garden where Kyran lived with his family in recent years in Dundalk yielded no evidence of significant value in the case.

Gardaí stressed that the current tenants of this house are not connected in any way.

A Garda officer in Drogheda, where police carried out a forensic search in relation to the disappearance of Kyran Durnin (Damien Eagers/PA)

Gardaí believe there was a number of co-conspirators in the murder case and officers have been told a “pack of lies” by some of these people since the last confirmed sighting of Kyran in the early summer of 2022.

During their inquiries, they have been given a number of false accounts linked to the child’s disappearance and ­suspected murder, as well as false accounts being provided to other state agencies.

On two occasions in recent years, a boy who was not Kyran was interviewed by social workers, and sources said this was an example of the deceit that has been seen in the case.

Tusla has said it received no referrals of concern about Kyran’s welfare or attendance at school between 2022 and this year.

But by early 2024, Tusla began to take an interest in Kyran again having being involved in his earlier life.