Gardaí have renewed their appeal for information as part of a murder inquiry into the case of a man who has been missing since 2011.

Pat Heeran's disappearance had been treated as a missing person's inquiry but detectives now believe he died as a result of foul play.

Mr Heeran was last seen in Mohill in Co Leitrim on the afternoon of 3 October 2011. He was reported missing 11 days later.

CCTV still from An Garda Síochána

His lack of contact with family or friends was described at the time as extremely out of character.

He had no prior history of going missing and no recorded history of mental illness.

Following a case review, a decision was made to upgrade the investigation to a murder inquiry late last year.

At a news conference this morning, his cousin Damien Brennan said he believed Mr Heeran may have been mixing with people "whose level of violence he wouldn't have been fully aware of".

He said the Heeran family had been destroyed by his death and their sole focus was on recovering his remains and laying him to rest.

Gardaí believe somebody knows what happened to the 48-year-old in 2011 and where his body is located.

They have appealed to anyone with any information to come forward or contact Carrick-on-Shannon Garda Station on 071-9650510.