New information has come to light.

According to numerous reports, Gardaí are one step closer to solving the case of missing schoolboy Philip Cairns. RTÉ reports that suspicions are focused on convicted paedophile Eamon Cooke after a woman came forward to say that the suspect knew Philip and had told him he would bring him to visit his private radio station, Radio Dublin. The woman in question was in a car with Cooke on the day Philip disappeared and said that while at the station, a fight broke out between Cooke and the 13-year-old boy. She said that she was in another room at the time but that Cooke used an implement to hit Philip. When she got to the room, she saw Philip "bleeding and unconscious on the floor". The woman then fainted and when she came to, she was in a car driven by Cooke. This information has been kept under wraps for almost 30 years and only came to light last month. Gardaí then went to visit Eamon Cooke in a Dublin hospice where he had been transferred to from Arbour Hill prison. However, due to the fact that he was receiving palliative care, he was not subjected to full interrogation and only gave limited answers. It is believed that he verified some of the women's statement but did not give any information on where Philip's remains were buried. In 2007, Cooke was convicted of sexually abusing two teenage girls from January 1974 to May 1978 and was sentenced to ten years imprisonment. Image via RTÉ