‘Please don’t give up on William’: Advocate pleads for cops to stay on William Tyrrell’s case

It’s been 10 years since William Tyrrell disappeared and advocates fear an open finding in the upcoming coronial inquest could mean we never get an answer.

The woman who headed-up the public campaign to find William Tyrrell hopes the upcoming coronial inquest will deliver answers so the case file doesn’t end up on a pile of cold cases gathering dust.

It’s been ten years since the toddler disappeared and Clare Collins and her daughter Alice have been fighting for answers for every single one of those years.

The anniversary has brought their emotions to the surface, with Clare fearing an open finding in the upcoming coronial inquiry would see the case become a dreaded cold case.

“It’s been ten heartbreaking, traumatic years for all who love William and still we have no answers,” Ms Collins said in an exclusive interview with the Daily Telegraph.

“I think some may have lost sight of the fact that we’re talking about a three-year-old child and as a society we owe it to this precious little boy to find out what happened to him and hopefully find him and finally bring him home.

For 10 long years the Australian public have asked ‘Where’s William?’, the cheeky little 3-year-old boy in the Spider-Man suit. Picture: AAP

“If the coroner delivers an open finding and police relegate William’s case to ‘unsolved’ crimes, it is extremely unlikely that his loved ones will ever get the answers they deserve for William, his siblings and both the biological parents and the foster parents.”

The long-delayed inquest into the fate of three-year-old William will hear from a final group of witnesses before the end of the year.

The toddler went missing while playing at his foster grandmother’s home in Kendall, on the NSW mid-north coast, on September 12, 2014.

A brief hearing in the NSW Coroners Court last month set two final hearing blocks to be held from November 4-8 and December 16-20 to complete the inquest.

“We remain hopeful that Deputy State Coroner Harriet Graheme will provide some answers for William’s loved ones, especially his siblings.

“And if there is an open finding, as a society we cannot allow William’s case to go to the police unsolved crimes unit.

On the 10th anniversary of William’s disappearance, Where’s William? is inviting all Australians to light a candle to help create a symbolic pathway of hope – hope that William can find his way home. Picture: AAP

“William’s foster parents have been fighting for years to stop William’s disappearance from being designated a cold case.

“They’ll continue to fight for the truth as will we – we’ll never give up. All William’s loved ones deserve answers. All Australia deserves answers.”

The inquest into William’s disappearance began in March 2019 but was adjourned in October 2020. No one has been charged in the case and a $1 million reward for information still stands.

In November 2021 police launched a fresh, month-long search for William’s remains that concluded without any obvious breakthroughs.

In May this year, a review into evidence that William’s foster mother might have been involved in his disappearance was suspended after a police request to the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions.

Investigators had provided a brief for prosecutors to consider potential charges against the foster mother who they believed might have disposed of William’s body after his accidental death.

Advocate Clare Collins will never give up on William. She is urging anyone with “even the smallest piece” of information to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

The foster mother has always denied having anything to do with William’s disappearance.

In fact William’s foster mother has publicly criticised police and begged them to not give up on finding William.

In 2020 during court proceedings against ex-detective Gary Jubelin for illegally recording an interview with a previous suspect, the foster mother said she was “angry” about the police handling of the case in the year since Jubelin was charged with misconduct.

She said she detected a lack of interest and feared the case would “sit in a box” and every six months somebody would take the lid off and say: “Oh, nothing new.”

Outside the court at the time Alice read a statement on behalf of the foster mother that said: “We hold deep fears for those families coming behind us and question how they might trust senior police to put their personal agendas, ambitions and bias aside to focus on solving these horrendous crimes.

“There needs to be greater transparency and accountability within NSW Police which can only be achieved through institutional change.”

In 2023 Detective Chief Inspector David Laidlaw – who now runs the Tyrrell investigation – told the gay hate crimes inquiry that the homicide squad would have to spend 22 years to review more than 400 unsolved murders.

Police SES, and the RFS at a property north of Kendall in 2018 as they search for any clues in the disappearance of William Tyrrell. Picture: Nathan Edwards

Detective Laidlaw told the inquiry the unsolved homicide team was experiencing difficulties in reviewing the large number of cases due to “staff shortages”.

He said an investigation into a cold case could be a case of reviewing one folder or 200 folders.

“It does take time, there’s no set parameters to do the review because some are quite long and lengthy,” Inspector Laidlaw told the inquiry at the time.

“We’ve still got triage forms being completed that we can’t get out to review because there’s so many of them.”

Meantime, Clare and Alice said they too would never give up hope.

“All William’s loved ones deserve answers. All Australia deserves answers,” Clare said.

“As long as there’s no evidence to suggest William is deceased, with stories of missing children being found alive decades after their abduction, the Where’s William? campaign holds on to the hope – however small – that William could still be found alive,” she said.

“We will never give up on William or stop shining a spotlight on the need to find him as we continue to ask anyone with information, even the smallest piece, to please come forward and contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000,” Ms Collins said.

The NSW Police Force said it remains committed to finding William Tyrrell under Strike Force Rosann.

Strike force detectives attached to State Crime Command’s Homicide Squad continue to prepare information for the Coronial Inquest in an attempt to find out what happened to William.

The $1 million reward for information that leads to the recovery of William Tyrrell, and the circumstances surrounding his disappearance, remains in place.

Police are urging anyone with information about the disappearance of William Tyrrell to contact Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000.

Lack of answers haunts ex-cop

By James Willis

The former detective who lost his career investigating the disappearance of William Tyrrell says he is “haunted” by the unsolved case.

In an interview on the 10 year anniversary of William’s disappearance from his foster grandmother’s home at Kendall, Gary Jubelin said “it makes me very sad … a three year old boy with his life ahead of him has disappeared and there are still no answers.”

When asked about the ongoing police investigation into the foster mother, who was at her home at the time of William’s disappearance, Mr Jubelin described it as “shameful.”

“I’m still of the position … that she is not involved” Mr Jubelin said, before saying he was “gobsmacked” the media had been informed police had handed a brief of evidence about the foster mother to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Deputy state coroner Harriet Graham with Detective Chief Inspector Gary Jubelin visiting search sites near Kendall in northern NSW. Picture: Nathan Edwards

Police provided a brief of evidence to the DPP in August 2023. However, in May, police reportedly asked the DPP to suspend their review of the evidence.

Mr Jubelin said he no longer speaks to William’s foster parents as he was “making a conscious effort not to”, although they still had his “full support.”

“When I ran the investigation for that four year period, we conducted a covert and overt operation targeting the foster mother. On that basis, I found no evidence that was suggestive of her having any knowledge or involvement in William’s disappearance.”

Jubelin’s 34 year stint in the police force ended in 2019 after he illegally recorded a person of interest in the Tyrrell case.

He was also involved in the unit who wrongly targeted Bill Spedding, who was awarded almost $2 million after suing NSW for malicious prosecution, wrongful imprisonment and abuse of process.

“I have to acknowledge the (Spedding) findings of the court.” Mr Jubelin said. “It’s unfortunate how it’s played out. (But) in regards to doing anything different, everything I did on the Bill Spedding line of enquiry was supported by senior police. I don’t have any personal regrets - a three year old child had disappeared.”

Originally published as ‘Please don’t give up on William’: Advocate pleads for cops to stay on William Tyrrell’s case