Gardaí quiz ‘close friend’ (18) of murdered teen Cameron
AN 18-YEAR-old male who has been arrested in relation to the murder of Cameron Reilly was a “close friend” of the victim, the
Irish Independent can reveal. The youth is being detained at Drogheda garda station and he can be held for 24 hours.
Cameron’s body was found by a dog-walker in a field just outside the town of Dunleer, Co Louth, on May 26. He had been strangled.
The youth, who has no previous criminal convictions, was arrested in Dunleer early yesterday morning.
Gardaí made a vital DNA breakthrough after clothing and footwear from several of Cameron’s friends were seized.
AN 18-YEAR-OLD male who has been arrested in relation to the strangulation of Cameron Reilly was a ‘close friend’ of the victim, the Irish Independent can reveal.
The youth is being detained at Drogheda garda station and he can be held for 24 hours.
Sources said last night no motive has yet been established by detectives.
Cameron’s body was found by a dog-walker in a field just outside the town of Dunleer, Co Louth, on the morning of May 26.
The first-year college student has been remembered as “kind, polite and gentle”.
The 18-year-old male, who has no previous criminal convictions, was arrested in Dunleer early yesterday morning.
It emerged last weekend that gardaí seized clothing and footwear from several of Cameron’s friends, which is understood to have led to a vital DNA breakthrough in the case.
Gardaí have not yet recovered Cameron’s phone, despite extensive searches.
Detectives believe it holds the key to what exactly happened on the night he died.
A reservoir near to where he was found was drained in the search for the iPhone 8 Plus device, but nothing was uncovered.
Gardaí have extensively interviewed all the friends of the Dundalk Institute of Technology student who were socialising with him on the night of his murder.
From the outset, gardaí have believed that the answer to who was involved in Cameron’s death lies close to the town of Dunleer.
They know that up to 20 youths in their late teens and early 20s were circulating and socialising in the area around the time of the highly unusual murder.
Lessons
At Cameron’s funeral earlier this month, mourners were told that death “seldom comes as shockingly, as cruelly or as poignantly as it has to Cameron”.
The community of Dunleer has never had to deal with a tragedy like this before, parish priest Fr Michael Murtagh said.
“This is unprecedented,” he added.
Around 1,000 mourners attended the funeral in Dunleer.
Fr Murtagh went on to say: “As far as we knew, Cameron was a well-balanced, good-living young man that any family could be proud of.
“He was very moderate in his habits and very quiet in his personality and his demeanour.
“Cameron’s death raises some difficult questions and I do not want to avoid them today.
“I ask and appeal to our young people to reflect thoughtfully on what has happened and to learn lessons from it.”
He asked them to “examine the patterns of their lives and the direction they are going”.