Daniel Aruebose 'loved dancing and laughing' when living with foster family, sister reveals
Flowers, candles, and teddy bears have been left at the site in Donabate, North Dublin, where skeletal remains believed to be those of missing seven-year-old Daniel Aruebose were found this week. Picture: Leah Farrell / © RollingNews.ie
The foster sister of Daniel Aruebose said the little boy “loved dancing” and “loved laughing” when he lived with his foster parents.
She said the grim news that his remains had been found was devastating for her and the foster parents, but added that there was “more anger than anything”.
Her comments — in an interview with — came as Tánaiste Simon Harris said he was not ruling out the possibility of a statutory inquiry into Tusla’s dealings with the boy and his birth parents.
It comes as methodical steps were taken on Thursday to document and carefully remove child remains from a search site in Donabate, North Dublin, and bring to a morgue for examination.
Specialist forensic archaeologist Niamh McCullagh was among the high-level experts at the site to ensure all the necessary measures were taken to ensure the proper conservation and removal of the remains.
Daniel’s parents handed him up for adoption at birth, and he was placed in the care of Tusla. Tusla found him a foster home, where he lived for a year. By that stage, the parents had changed their minds. The boy was returned at the end of 2018.
He went missing in 2021, when he was aged three and a half. If he were still alive, he would be seven years old.
In an interview with , Daniel’s foster sister said she lived with the boy from his birth in December 2017 for a year.
“We got him the first day he was born, and we had to give him back the day before his first birthday, when he went back to live with his biological family," she said
“Then he would come for a few days a week not long after that, he’d go back and forth, for about six months.”
She added: “He was the sweetest little baby ever, we were all absolutely beside ourselves [when we got him]. He was so cute.”
The woman, now aged in her 20s, said she last saw Daniel in the summer of 2019. She said her foster mum broke the devastating news to her, saying “our baby is dead”.
“I think we’re more angry than anything,” she said. “We didn’t want him to go [out of our care].”
Daniel's birth mother continues to live in Dublin, while the father has settled in South America with a new partner.
Responding to Social Democrats TD Cian O’Callaghan in the Dáil, and his call for a statutory inquiry into Tusla’s interactions with the Aruebose family, the Tánaiste said nothing could be ruled out at the moment.
