William Tyrrell: Inside the police thinking on the case

We have all seen the tragic image of a happy William Tyrrell in his Spider-Man outfit. Police now believe that picture contains a crucial clue as to the boy’s fate.

It is the image of tragic little William Tyrrell that seared ­itself into the hearts of the ­nation. The happy, excited boy in his Spider-Man suit pretending to be a “daddy tiger”.

But it is this photograph, taken by his foster mum at 9.37am on the day he disappeared in 2014, that has ­become crucial evidence in solving the case.

In it, there is one of the clues that tipped detectives onto the suspicion that his foster mother was hiding something about that morning, September 14, when William was last seen alive on the deck of his foster nana’s home in Kendall.

The Daily Telegraph is not suggesting the foster mother is guilty, only that police are investigating.

William Tyrrell in his Spider-Man suit.

NSW Police cover an area they were looking at with plastic tarpaulin in an area of bush, 1km from the former home of William Tyrrell. Picture: AAP Image

LAID BARE

The foster mother had insisted to police that William was wearing shoes when he disappeared — but he is barefoot in the photograph.

She said he was wearing shoes because of the bindis in the lawn or in case he stepped in dog droppings. It is now believed that there were no bindis at the property and the family dog was dead.

It was one of several inconsistencies that detectives from Strike Force Rosann picked up on when they brought fresh eyes to the investigation as Detective Chief Inspector David Laidlaw took over from former Detective Chief ­Inspector Gary Jubelin in 2019 — five years after the toddler went missing.

Another was the timeline of that morning before the foster mother called triple-O at 10.57am to report William missing.

Police now believe the foster nana’s grey Mazda may have been used to move his body before police were called.

The Mazda was seized from its new owner in Gymea earlier this month to undergo extensive forensic examination.

Investigators started trawling through the family’s statements again to find ­evidence that may have been missed.

A car is undergoing forensic examination after being seized by detectives as part of ongoing investigations into the 2014 disappearance of William Tyrrell.

UNCORROBORATED

Another indication of their suspicions came in July last year, when documents released by the inquest into William’s disappearance included a statement that suggested police could not corroborate the foster mother’s evidence that she saw two strange cars in the street on that September morning.

She had initially told police that around 9.30am, she had seen a car drive past and do a U-turn in a neighbour’s driveway as William rode his bike.

Then, she said that the next day, as she drove home after picking up her sister from Port Macquarie airport about 5pm, she remembered seeing two cars parked in Benaroon Drive from around 7.30am to 9.30am.

The original senior investigators had ruled her out as a suspect. In her statement to the inquest, Detective Sergeant Laura Beacroft, said: “There is no evidence to suggest the foster mother’s ­involvement in any crime.”

GENUINE HURT

One former senior investigator told The Daily Telegraph that they saw her as “genuine”. “You only have to listen to the triple-O call. They seemed like genuine people who were genuinely hurt and upset at losing their child,” he said.

“They couldn’t have children of their own. That’s why they wanted to adopt.

“They desperately wanted a family and they had one that was taken away when William disappeared.”

With Det Laidlaw in charge of the strike force, the relationship the family had with police broke down.

The foster mother tried to get police to reinstate Jubelin.

Deputy State Coroner Harriet Grahame was due to hand down her findings from the inquest in June but they have been postponed indefinitely because of the fresh police investigation.

Police are investigating new theories about the mysterious disappearance of William Tyrrell as detectives again scour the property where he went missing. Picture: AAP Image

At one stage, the inquest was halted after the coroner agreed to an application by counsel Mich­elle Swift, who was appearing for William’s biological ­father, to send that last photograph of William for further testing.

A photographic metadata expert said that the photograph was “created” at 7.39am and “corrected” at 9.37am, which would have resulted in a “missing” two hours.

The original report from X-Ways forensic software said: “Created: 12/09/2014 07:39:54. Corrected time: 12/09/2014 09:37:44.”

William’s foster parents told police that the timer on the camera was off by about two hours and it is understood that further investigations have confirmed that.

William’s foster mother tried to have Gary Jubelin reinstated to the case. Picture: NCA NewsWire / James Gourley

A ROAR THEN SILENCE

Back at the house in Benaroon Drive, his foster ­mother gave evidence she had made cups of tea before taking the now iconic photo at 9.37am.

As the two women sat drinking tea, his foster mum said she heard William roar – and then “nothing”.

She said as she ran around checking in and outside the house, she saw a text from her husband saying he was on his way home after stopping to buy some newspapers at a nearby store.

The inquest heard that text was sent around 10.30am.

At 10.57am, police were called and the biggest search in Australia’s history was launched that, at one time, had more than 600 “persons of interest” identified.

Another crucial detail on the timeline to the disappearance was around 6.30pm on September 11.

That was the evening ­before William disappeared.

Photographs show the foster family visiting McDonald’s at Heatherbrae, just north of Newcastle.

A happy William is seen sitting on his foster father’s shoulders.

It was the last time William was seen by anyone outside of the family.

In a police interview in September 2016, two years after William disappeared – played in evidence at the inquest – the foster mother said it was “outrageous” to think that something had accidentally happened to William and it was covered up by the family.

Originally published as William Tyrrell: Inside the police thinking on the case