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THE father of missing toddler Daniel Thomas says he can now plan a funeral for his son following the grim confirmation that remains found in a Victorian backyard are those of the two-year-old.

Kevin Ruffels said the eight weeks since the remains were found by two dogs in the north-east Victorian town of Myrtleford had been "terrible``.

Homicide detectives confirmed today the bones found buried in the backyard of a house were those of Daniel, who disappeared on October 17, 2003.

"The last five years have been a living hell and the past eight weeks have been terrible, I thought the DNA testing would have been a lot quicker,`` Mr Ruffels said.

"But now that we know it is definitely him, we can get some closure, we can move on and plan his funeral.``

At the time the remains were discovered, Mr Ruffels said because Daniel`s body had not been found, he had held on to the hope he was still alive.

Today, he said the next step in the tragedy was to find out who was responsible for the little boy`s death.

"Police have to put the pieces together to finally put the cuffs on who is responsible and hopefully they will be taken away in the next few weeks,`` Mr Ruffels said.

Police said investigations were continuing into the cause of Daniel`s death and subsequent disposal of his body.

The remains had undergone extensive DNA testing at the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine to confirm their identity.

Daniel and his mother Donna Thomas - Mr Ruffels` former partner - had once lived in the Lawrence St house where the skeleton was found.

They had moved to another house not far away in Standish St when Daniel went missing while in the care of babysitter Mandy Martyn.

Daniel`s remains were discovered when the current occupant of the house, Jodie Simpson, found her two pet rottweilers playing with a skull and other bones dug up from the yard on March 18.

Ms Martyn was arrested last year over Daniel`s disappearance but no charges were laid.

Mr Ruffels said he and Ms Thomas no longer talked to each other but police had told him they would have to sit down and plan their son`s funeral arrangements.

"Since she became friends with Mandy Martyn there have been no talks between us,`` Mr Ruffels said.

"Homicide detectives have told us that as parents we will have to sit down and work it out together.``

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