Police zero in on new location of interest in William Tyrrell hunt
THE key to unlocking the William Tyrrell mystery could lie in a chance sighting of a car or person at a rural crossroads.
NSW
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A RURAL intersection where a forensic police search is underway for William Tyrrell was also covered almost four years ago when the three-year-old went missing, according to a resident.
Police revealed it was information on a “high-risk” person of interest which led them to the new search site yesterday, 4km south west from where William vanished on September 12, 2014.
The junction of Batar Creek Rd and Cedar Loggers Lane, Kendall, is wildly overgrown on the southern side, where dozens of police, with sniffer dogs in their wake, meticulously raked through undergrowth yesterday.
BREAKING EXCLUSIVE: Police have moved their search for William Tyrrell to bush land at Batar Creek, 4km from where he disappeared. Area identified as a result of information from Strike Force Rosann pic.twitter.com/ZzLITsarQ7
— Kimberley Soekov (@KimberleySoekov) June 27, 2018
Police hope that someone noticed a car or person at that intersection around the time William went missing.
Detective Chief Inspector Gary Jubelin and fellow Strike Force Rosann detectives went back into the bush this morning, pausing at times to let sniffer dogs rummage through undergrowth.
Cedar Loggers Lane resident Clive Wilmott remembers seeing search parties at the intersection in the opening days of the search but does not recall anyone suspicious.
“I never saw anyone suspicious or anyone lurking,” he said.
“They were down there searching when he went missing in the first week or so.
“It’s fairly dense rugged bushland. If you were looking to take something in there you would have had to know what the area was like.”
Rosann has a list of ranked persons of interest, with just a “small pool of people” now classed as a “high risk” of being involved in William’s disappearance.
The new searches by Strike Force Rosann, who suspect someone abducted William, differ from those at the time of William’s disappearance as they are forensic searches for evidence on who might have taken him, rather than for a little boy who could be lost.
This search follows an intensive search over several weeks of a 4sqkm area around the former home of William’s foster grandmother, where he was playing when he disappeared.
Police said that search was to prove William had not simply wandered off into the bush.
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Strike Force Rosann detectives have long suspected William was abducted.
The “line of inquiry” which led to yesterday’s search has been on the strike force’s radar at least for months.
Police do not believe William could have walked the 4km to the new site, meaning anything they may find there will further strengthen their belief he met with “human intervention”.
“We’re looking for any information, any exhibits relating to William’s disappearance ... it is very specific,” Detective Chief Inspector Gary Jubelin said.
The new search site is about a five-minute drive from where William went missing.
The searches are believed to be among the final steps before his disappearance is referred to a coroner.
What would’ve been William’s seventh birthday passed on Tuesday.
The then-three-year-old boy vanished from his grandmother’s yard in the NSW mid-north coastal town of Kendall in September 2014.
Since then investigators have questioned suspects, investigated sightings and seized thousands of pieces of evidence but found no proven links to William — including his now infamous Spider-Man suit.