Gardaí have reportedly found a gun during their excavation in Chapelizod as part of the Trevor Deely cold case.

Mr Deely has been missing for nearly 17 years.

The then 22-year-old from County Kildare disappeared after attending his office Christmas party in Dublin in 2000.

Gardaí have designated the Chapelizod site as a crime scene rather than a search area – after receiving new information indicating that Trevor may be buried there.

It is understood one line of inquiry under investigation is whether he was shot by a well known criminal before being buried in the scrubland area near the banks of the Liffey.

Gardaí reportedly uncovered the firearm yesterday – and investigators are working to establish whether it has any connection to Trevor’s disappearance.

Meanwhile, officers have divided the three acre Chapelizod site into four separate search zones – and have vowed to leave no stone unturned in the search for the missing man.

Former Detective Sergeant Alan Bailey told The Pat Kenny Show that ground penetrating radar is being used in the search.

He said the dig at the site is painstaking and could continue for a number of weeks:

“It is almost three acres and it is overgrown,” he said. “It is something that we have done in the past with ground penetrating radar.”

“It is a huge job with fingertip searches of the ground.

“You must clear it first and then you look for anomalies in the ground. You are talking weeks and not days.”

Gardaí have again warned that at this stage there is no definitive evidence suggesting that Mr Deely was murdered.