Inquest hears ‘boy seen in car’ the day William Tyrrell went missing
The same day NSW toddler William Tyrrell vanished in 2014 a man who lived just streets away from foster grandmother’s Kendall home saw a boy wearing the now iconic Spiderman costume being driven away.
NSW
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A boy in a Spiderman suit was seen being driven through the northern NSW town of Kendall the same day toddler William Tyrrell disappeared, an inquest into his suspected abduction heard.
The three-year-old was wearing the same iconic costume when he was likely taken in a vehicle from outside his foster grandmother’s home in the village near Port Macquarie on September 12, 2014.
It comes as police resumed a search along Herons Creek Road in Kendall on Monday using sniffer dogs and State Emergency Services, but no new clues were found.
A resident who lived just streets away from her Benaroon Drive home recalls seeing a child in the backseat of one of two cars travelling east in tandem past his house that day, a senior detective told the NSW Coroners Court.
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Detective Sergeant Laura Beacroft said respected local Ronald Chapman, who will give evidence later this week, was outside his Laurel Street home when he spotted a woman driving a boy in the first car while a man drove the second car.
This child hasn’t been identified and police can't rule out whether it was William or not, the court heard.
William’s foster mother has previously testified it took her four days to remember seeing two suspicious cars with dark-tinted windows in the street the morning he vanished, although some neighbours were “adamant” that there were none there.
"I was unable to provide any corroborating evidence to support," Det Sgt Beacroft told the special hearing in Taree on Monday.
It comes as police resumed a search along Herons Creek Road in Kendall on Monday using sniffer dogs and State Emergency Services, but no new clues were found.
Paul Savage, who lived across the road from William’s foster grandmother and joined in the original search, told reporters outside court he was looking forward to giving evidence.
Mr Savage was named by police as one of 404 persons of interest in the country’s most high-profile child abduction case, and added he wasn’t disappointed that due to delays he won’t step into the witness box until Tuesday.
The probe has moved to the mid-north coast — about 50 kilometres from where William went missing nearly five years ago — to allow a number of locals to testify, including convicted paedophile Tony Jones and washing machine repairman Bill Spedding who were also persons of interest.
Mr Spedding’s solicitor Peter O’Brien asked Det Sgt Beacroft about the approaches used by former lead detective Gary Jubelin in his investigation, including the use of the media to put pressure on certain people.
“The identification of a person of interest might cause significant embarrassment, or distress. A person might even be seriously vilified?” he said.
“Yes,” she replied.
Speaking outside court, Mr O’Brien said “all options” would be considered when asked whether he was considering suing the force on behalf of his client.
Present in court was Mr Jubelin, who was charged in June with four counts of illegally recording someone during the Tyrrell investigation after first being stood down from the case, then retiring.
When asked whether Mr Jubelin found it odd that he hasn’t been added to the inquest witness list, the high-profile ex homicide detective said it was “a matter for the coroner.”
“I’ve made it clear that I’m available to give evidence if required,” he said outside court.
“We commenced the investigation five months after William disappeared, ran it for four years.”
The biological father and grandmother of William — who would be eight years old now — also attended the inquest, which continues before NSW deputy state coroner Harriet Grahame.
Originally published as Inquest hears ‘boy seen in car’ the day William Tyrrell went missing
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