17-06-2025
Fresh push to solve case of Dublin boy who vanished without a trace 40 years ago
Radio presenter Gareth O'Callaghan has launched a new campaign to try to find his cousin who vanished nearly 40 years in one of Ireland's biggest mysteries.
Philip Cairns was 13 when he disappeared in October 1986 – and now his cousin Gareth is trying to uncover what happened ahead of the 40th anniversary of his disappearance. Gareth, who has worked for RTE, 4fm, and Classic Hits Radio, has issued a colour photograph of the original Garda search operation to launch the new campaign.
He said: 'I'm back with a renewed and determined effort to find out what happened to Philip. If you're interested in supporting me, then please spread the word that I'm back to keep searching.'
Philip's disappearance has featured heavily in the Irish Mirror's ongoing Missed campaign to highlight the scores of high profile missing cases in Ireland. Schoolboy Philip was still wearing his uniform when vanished from his home in Rathfarnham, Co Dublin, on October 23, 1986. He had returned home for lunch and set off to go back to school but was never seen again.
His family issued appeals in an RTE documentary in 2020, a 2021 book titled The Boy Who Never Came Home forensically examined his disappearance, and a podcast titled Vanished: The Philip Cairns Story was made last year.
Philip's broadcaster cousin Gareth said: 'There have been book chapters, true crime theories and television reports over the years, and mind-blowing accusations that have led to nothing – but someone knows.'
He said of the relaunch: 'Philip Cairns will be missing 40 years next year. It's hard to believe where all those years have gone. Philip would be 52 right now. It's also hard to believe that it's now almost 10 years since I started to research some of the circumstances that still surround his disappearance.
'It yielded a huge reaction from both those who knew him growing up and went to school with him, and from those who might not have known him but could quickly recall their own memories of the day he went missing in October 1986. Ten years is a long time in anyone's life and those of you who were kind enough to come forward with memories of that time are now that much older.
'It's a huge chunk of time and so much changes in that period.' He added: 'Here's the first photo that I published in 2016 of Philip's school bag, that was found dumped in the laneway. It was between Ann Devlin Road and Ann Devlin Drive in Rathfarnham very soon after he went missing.
'Alongside it is an AI-colourised version of the photo. Maybe the enhanced image might jolt a few memories? Ten years has been a long time. There is more to come for sure.'
