Inquest into William Tyrrell’s disappearance begins in Sydney
Through tears, William Tyrrell’s foster mother has explained how she frantically “opened every single cupboard” the day he went missing in his Spider-Man suit.
NSW
Don't miss out on the headlines from NSW. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Through tears, William Tyrrell’s foster mother has explained how she frantically “opened every single cupboard” the day he went missing in his Spider-Man suit.
In more than two hours of questioning the woman, who cannot be identified, has painstakingly recalled the final moments of William’s known existence before he disappeared while playing a game he called “daddy tiger” at her mother’s Mid North Coast home on September 12, 2014.
The foster mother and grandmother were sipping tea on the patio, just after the foster mother took the now-infamous photograph of William happily “roaring” at 9.37am.
He jumped off the back patio and ran around the side of the house near the clothesline.
“I heard a roar,” the foster mother said as she paused to wipe away tears at an inquest into William’s disappearance today.
“I heard a roar and then I heard nothing.
MORE NEWS
Shock jock Ray Hadley accused of bullying
Aussie model faces 21 years’ jail for flight rampage
Raptor cops charge ex-Finks bikie over crocodile
“Mum and I are talking and still hear nothing and it think that’s really weird and I looked across at mum and say ‘it’s just too quiet’ and I get up and walk around and I can’t see him.”
She told Deputy State Coroner Harriet Grahame and council assisting Gerard Craddock SC of the fruitless search for the red of William’s Spider-Man suit among undergrowth and vegetation of the home on Benaroon Drive, Kendall.
“I race back around the house again and say to mum ‘he’s not here’,” she said.
“I go inside and I open up every single cupboard, I open up every single wardrobe.
“All I can think is where’s the red why can’t I see the red … William it’s mummy. I can’t see you I can’t hear you.”
The inquest was also played a video from the back yard of the grandmother’s home, where the foster father, who cannot be identified, relays to police how he scoured the grounds of the home and surrounding properties in frantic moments after William disappeared.
“He never wanders. He’s not a wanderer,” he told police.
“I was thinking so many things all at once. I need to cover as much ground as I possibly can in the shortest amount of time.”
The court also heard a chilling account of the mother looking straight in the eyes of a large man in a green car on the morning of the disappearance.
It was some time after William’s foster father had left the home at 9am to find a decent internet connection for a work conference call and the children were riding their bikes on the driveway when one of them said “who’s that car mummy?”
The car nosed into a neighbour’s driveway, turned around and drove back past them.
“I can see the profile of that man, he’s thick, thick neck, he was sitting back from the steering wheel,” the mother said.
“You know when you look at someone and they look at you and there’s that second challenge.”
She said it was as if they were saying to each other “why are you watching me, I’m watching you”.
The court heard she had tried with police have a likeness drawn of the man — in his 50s, weathered and with sandy hair — but no success.
“I can see that person but we haven’t been able to accurately pull it together,” she said.
She also explained seeing two cars — one white, the other gunmetal grey — parked suspiciously opposite the house that morning.
“I looked at those cars and thought ‘that’s odd’,” she said.
“I can’t tell you how much I beat myself up over not looking at number plates.”
Mr Craddock’s opening address covered the complexities of William’s family situation.
In February 2012, as Family and Community Services arrived to take William, he and his mother were not home and a warrant had to be issued for her arrest. He said it was clear both William’s biological parents were in Sydney the day he went missing.
He said it appeared more likely William had been taken than got lost that day and that detectives had not ruled out someone close to him knew more.
“Investigators have not drawn the positive conclusion that no relative or associate was involved in William’s disappearance,” Mr Craddock said.
Evidence from the foster mother is expected to continue on Tuesday and her husband is also expected to take the witness stand.
The inquest will run for the rest of the week and a second tranche of evidence will be heard in August.