A national manhunt was launched early Saturday evening when it was reported that 15-year-old Sait Canbullu was abducted by two men in balaclavas during broad daylight at the corner of Rowe Street and High Street.
A Child Rescue Ireland operation was established and a co-ordinated garda search was instigated in an attempt to locate the minor.
However, it emerged on Sunday morning that after gardai re-interviewed key witnesses and examined CCTV footage of the location of the alleged abduction that they were standing down the classification of the search to that of a missing person.
Security footage of the area revealed that the teenager entered the black saloon style vehicle voluntarily that was driven by individuals who were known to him and he was not abducted as was previously thought.
The teenager’s phone signal was identified at a property in Sandymount, Dublin, and detectives confirmed that they believed the boy was in the company of close relatives who were attempting to hide him from the authorities.
Following a number of searches of properties in the South Dublin area, Gardai failed to locate the minor until early on Sunday afternoon when he was found safe and well at the home of family members in Ballymote, County Sligo.
The boy’s mother Hilda Murrin, who had publicly appealed for his safe return, resides in Sligo. His father is Turkish.
Sait Canbullu was born in Turkey and lived there for a number of years before moving to Ireland with his family. Following reports of mistreatment he was placed in HSE care, firstly at a care home in Sligo and subsequently he was moved to a facility in Wexford.
It is believed that the minor had expressed dissatisfaction with his current living arrangements and his family expressed a keen desire for him to return to reside in Sligo.