Tyrrell foster mother theory presented to coroner, but court reminded ‘guesses are not rational’
The NSW Coroners Court has been reminded that guesses and suspicions will not solve the mystery of William Tyrrell’s disappearance as an inquest probes a police theory the toddler died after accidentally falling from a home balcony on the NSW Mid-North Coast.
William, 3, vanished from his foster grandmother’s home on September 12, 2014. He was last seen wearing a Spider-Man costume.
William Tyrrell vanished from Kendall in September 2014.
Despite dozens of searches, a $1 million reward for information and a decade-long investigation involving more than 600 persons of interest, no traces of the boy have been found.
The final tranche of evidence will be presented to Deputy State Coroner Harriet Grahame until Friday. It will explore a theory that William’s foster mother hid his body in nearby bushland after he accidentally fell from a balcony at his foster grandmother’s home.
NSW Police searched the gardens below a balcony at the home from which William Tyrrell disappeared.Credit: Wolter Peeters
A final block of hearings in December will conclude the inquest that began five years ago.
In his opening statement, Gerard Craddock, SC, said despite extremely “intense, methodical and thorough” investigations, no forensic evidence or eyewitness accounts had helped provide “a clue for the reason for his disappearance”.
“Police assert that the foster mother must have quickly resolved that if the accidental death were to be discovered, she might lose [another child in her care],” he said.
The theory was first proposed in 2021. Police dug up the garden directly underneath the second-storey balcony, sprayed luminol (a substance that shows traces of blood) and used a cadaver dog at the Benaroon Drive property. No new evidence was found.
A truck driver who said he saw the foster mother driving the foster grandmother’s Mazda along the road where police suspect William’s body was dumped the morning of his disappearance will give evidence.
Fluvial geomorphologist Jon Olley, an expert in how rivers form and move materials, said the 2021 search of nearby bushland was “extremely thorough”.
The search he helped design involved cadaver dogs, with vegetation removed and mulched and river areas drained. Searchers combed through the material by hand and rake to look for clothing and bone fragments.
Olley told the inquest any material in the creek would have been “trapped” by vegetation dams, while the soil was stripped back to 2014 levels.
He estimated clothes placed in the area would remain there for “hundreds” of years, while rubber-soled shoes would remain for “decades”.
“It would be very difficult for anything to be washed much distance in a creek with that form,” he said.
The inquest will also hear from Senior Constable Jost Preis, who will discuss the search efforts; Dr Jennifer Menzies, who will provide evidence on the breakdown of human bones in bushland; and cadaver dog experts.
A video of the foster mother’s evidence to the NSW Crime Commission about hitting a different foster child with a wooden spoon will also be presented.
A video of the second child in the home showing police where she last saw William will be played in closed court.
Craddock said William’s disappearance had drawn “intense public interest” but reminded the court that theories posed by the public and the media were not evidence.
“Guesses are not rational. Suspicions form no rational basis for making findings of fact … a police officer’s belief may be right or wrong,” he said.
Convicted sex offender Frank Abbott, who was investigated over William’s disappearance and subsequently charged with unrelated child sex offences, was present via video link from Long Bay prison. He requested to give evidence, which will be considered later.
William’s foster and biological parents cannot be identified for legal reasons.
The inquest continues.
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