Sinéad O'Connor's son dies at age of 17 after going missing

"My beautiful son, Nevi'im Nesta Ali Shane O'Connor, the very light of my life, decided to end his earthly struggle today and is now with God"

By Edward Era Barbacena

On Friday, a Garda spokesman told the Irish Mirror that a body had been recovered and that police were standing down on a missing-person report for Shane O'Connor.

The "Nothing compares 2U" musician shared a sequence of brief statements on her unverified Twitter account saying her son "decided to end his earthly struggle" and urged others not to do the same.

"My beautiful son, Nevi'im Nesta Ali Shane O'Connor, the very light of my life, decided to end his earthly struggle today and is now with God. May he rest in peace and may no one follow his example. My baby. I love you so much. Please be at peace," O'Connor tweeted.

Irish authorities first issued a missing-person statement on Thursday, asking for the public's help tracing Shane O'Connor's whereabouts. He had been missing since January 6.

"Shane was last seen this morning in the Tallaght, Dublin 24 area," said the Thursday statement by the Gardai -- the Irish national police force.

Following her son's disappearance, the Irish musician published a series of tweets desperately pleading for her son to give himself over to the authorities.

When asked for comment, the Gardai told CNN that because of data protection regulations, it wouldn't be able to confirm the veracity of O'Connor's tweets nor Shane O'Connor's missing status.

The Irish singer, who has been open about her own mental struggles and suicidal thoughts in the past -- paid a tribute to her son by dedicating Bob Marley's "Ride Natty Ride" to him on Twitter.

"This is for my Shaney. The light of my life. The lamp of my soul. My blue-eye baby. You will always be my light. We will always be together. No boundary can separate us," O'Connor said.