A search at the former family home of missing schoolboy Kyran Durnin and an adjoining area of open land in Dundalk, Co Louth, has ended.
Gardaí have said the results of the search are not being released for operational purposes.
They believe the boy may have been killed up to two years ago when he was aged six.
Earlier, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said gardaí have been trying to establish "proof of life" since Kyran was last seen in 2022 and could not confirm whether the boy "saw his seventh or eighth birthdays".
The search operation was launched on Tuesday after gardaí took possession of the former Durnin family home at Emer Terrace on Monday, following a court order.
The three-day operation involved a search of the property itself and the excavation of the garden behind it.
Today, the search focused on an area of wasteland located behind the back gardens of the row of terraced houses.
Members of the Garda Technical Bureau could be seen carrying chainsaws and strimmers into a relatively small patch of wasteland this morning before shrubbery was cut back and disposed of in a skip.
Gardaí worked closely with local residents in the area in order to access the wasteland and have said that those residents and the current tenants who live at the property are in no way connected to Kyran or his disappearance.
The search began to wind down this afternoon and members of Garda Technical Bureau left the search site shortly after 3pm.
Gardaí from the local divisional search unit remained on site until a digger and other equipment was taken away a short time later.
This evening, gardaí confirmed the search had concluded, the results of which are not being made public.
Gardaí also renewed their appeal for information in relation to the case and said investigations are ongoing.
In a statement, gardaí asked people not to rule out coming forward with any information that they may have in relation to Kyran or his whereabouts.
"Please do not assume that the investigation team know the information that you may have.
"Any information, no matter how insignificant it may seem, will be welcomed by the investigation team. This information will be treated in the strictest confidence.
"You can contact the Garda Investigation Team at Drogheda Garda Station on 041 987 4200, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or speak with any member of An Garda Síochána."
Kyran Durnin case 'horrifying' - Gallagher
Earlier, the Special Rapporteur on Child Protection described the case as "horrifying".
Caoilfhionn Gallagher said it is "deeply concerning" that it took two years for the case of the missing child to be picked up.
"I share the concerns expressed by many ministers, by an Taoiseach and indeed, by the Children's Rights Alliance about what’s happened here," she said.
Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, Ms Gallagher added that this case is occurring against a backdrop of growing concerns in relation to child protection issues in Ireland and whether adequate steps are being taken to gather information about children at risk.
Ms Gallagher said that this case raises "serious, systemic concerns" which need to be answered "independently of Tusla".
She added: "I welcome the fact that Tusla is conducting an internal review, but there has got to be a review outside of the garda investigation, not just on the criminal issues, but on the broader systemic questions of what, if anything, went wrong here."
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She said that the review should also examine agencies, organisations and individuals who had contact with Kyran.
"That's important, both for accountability for Kyran and getting justice for what has or may have happened, but it's also critical for child protection going forward.
"I'm afraid this case is indicative of real problems with our systems and on the face of it, it looks as if our systems were not fit for purpose (and) failed Kyran, and it's taken us two years to catch up on what's happened."
Case 'difficult to comprehend', says Garda Commissioner
The Garda Commissioner has said that in his 40 years as a police officer he "has never seen a set of circumstances" like those in the case of Kyran.
Speaking in Dublin, Drew Harris said there is a particular element to the case that is "difficult to comprehend".
He also said gardaí have their work to do and are "pursuing this with a full vigour".
Mr Harris said the investigation into what happened to Kyran has received "a lot of information from the public" over the last week.
"We've worked at trying to identify a proof of life since Kyran was last seen in 2022 so I cannot comment specifically on whether Kyran saw his seventh or eighth birthdays," he said.
"From the very beginning of this investigation - which commenced on 30th of August as a missing persons investigation - very quickly members of the investigation team, their suspicions were aroused.
"I was briefed on this in early September and visited the investigation team.
"We've obviously been very concerned to understand what's happened to Kyran and where this investigation is going to take us.
"We've received a lot of information from the public, certainly since we went public last week and we encourage anyone who might know anything to come forward."
The Minister for Justice also urged anyone with information about Kyran to come forward.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Helen McEntee said that questions have to be asked about how a child could go missing for two years.
The garda investigation will be hugely helpful in finding out what happened over the last two years, she said, but they need to understand if there were failures before that.
Minister McEntee said that anyone found responsible for failures would be held accountable.
If any changes need to be made with structures in State agencies or laws this will also happen, she added.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin said it was "shocking" that something like this could happen without coming to the attention of authorities.
"I know that the Minister for Children has referred it to the National Review Panel, and also that it is subject to a garda investigation, but it will need a very fundamental review as to what happened in this case, obviously," he said.
"I do believe we have to await the outcome of the garda investigation to make sure we're on solid ground when we have such a review."
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The Durnin family lived at the Dundalk house until last May.
On 30 August this year, a missing person's report was filed at Drogheda Garda Station in relation to Kyran.
Gardaí were told he was last seen in the town two days earlier.
However, during the course of their inquiry, information came to light that led detectives to suspect that Kyran had been missing for more than two days.
Last week, they upgraded the missing person's case to one of murder.
Additional reporting Carla O'Brien
