Detectives hopeful of cracking William Tyrrell case, seven years on
As police search bushland in Kendall in hopes of finally finding missing boy William Tyrrell, The Daily Telegraph looks back at the history of the case.
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Detectives hunting for tragic little William Tyrrell believe they are close to cracking the country’s most baffling missing child case.
The last image of him alive, happy and playing in his Spiderman suit pretending to be a “daddy tiger”, seared itself into the hearts of a nation which, like police, has now all but given up on finding him alive.
Hopes that rose following the miracle discovery of Cleo Smith, found safe 18 days after she was abducted from her parents’ tent at the isolated WA Blowholes camp ground, have been dashed by the announcement on Monday that detectives believe they are now looking for William’s remains.
NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller has confirmed police with Strike Force Rosann are investigating just one suspect in the disappearance of the three-year-old as the search which has taken so many twists and turns returns to its doorstep - the home of William’s foster nana at 48 Benaroon Drive, Kendall.
One theory is that he may have met with a fatal accident.
Police said they are looking for his remain so there will be no happy ending for William’s biological parents, his three siblings and his foster parents.
In what could be a last-ditch effort to find answers, police have called in ground penetrating x-ray technology and are using polylite, which shows up DNA like blood, to be spread across the dense scrub.
They are also using the old-style fingertip searches and cadaver-sniffing dogs.
The dramatic seven-year search since William was last seen at his foster nana’s house early on the morning of September 12, 2014, has exposed the underbelly of the town southwest of Port Macquarie on the state’s north coast.
Who would have believed the sleepy area was home to so many paedophiles?
One of them, convicted paedophile Frank Abbott. described as a “dirty old man” by one witness at the inquest into William’s disappearance, was living in a grubby caravan ,just 12 kilometres from Benaroon Drive in September 2014.
The elderly pervert, 79, has since been cleared of any involvement and is back behind bars on other sex offences.
In 2020, Federal police smashed a local paedophile network linked to Kendall, which they said involved some of the most horrific abuse against Australian children that they had ever encountered. Among the nine men charged across three states, two were arrested in the town.
There were reports that police had 20 known paedophiles on their books in the area. All were cleared of involvement.
Also cleared was local washing machine repair man Bill Spedding, who was wrongly targeted by detectives early in the investigation because he was due to fix the foster nana’s washing machine.
Spedding is suing police, claiming malicious prosecution of historical child abuse allegations of which he was completely cleared. His case is due to be heard in court next year.
Another person found to have no involvement was Paul Savage, who lives opposite the Benaroon Drive house. Mr Savage was at the centre of the case that led to the conviction of former Detective Chief Inspector Gary Jubelin, who was once in charge of the Tyrrell investigation.
Mr Jubelin was stood down in 2019 after he was charged with, and then convicted of, illegally recording four conversations with Mr Savage.
He was the second officer in charge of Strike Force Rosann after Hans Rupp, who resigned from the force in February 2015, and before Detective Chief Inspector David Laidlaw, who remains in charge.
With a $1 million reward still on the table, the inquest into William’s disappearance began in March 2019. It was relied on to provide the answers but mid-way through the inquiry, detectives who brought a fresh eye to the investigation picked on evidence that had earlier been missed.
The new focus caused friction between police and counsel assisting the coroner, Gerard Craddock SC, and the findings which were due in June 2021 have been postponed with no new date set. The current searches are being done on the orders of Deputy State Coroner Harriet Grahame.
Apart from William’s foster mother, the only other witness on the day he disappeared was his maternal foster nana. She died in March aged 88.
The previous afternoon, September 11, 2014, the foster parents had made a last minute decision to drive up to Kendall earlier than they had planned.
At around 6pm that evening, William was last seen by anyone outside the family at Heatherbrae McDonalds, just north of Newcastle. He was riding on his foster dad’s shoulders.
About 9am the next morning, his foster father said he left for Lakewood shopping centre for an internet connection for a Skype call to Queensland. CCTV showed his car passing Kendall Tennis Club just before 9am.
At 9.03am, his foster mum called Mr Spedding to see if he had the parts to fix her mum’s machine. Mr Spedding was having coffee with his wife.
The foster mum later told police that around 9.30am, she recalled seeing a car drive past and do a u-turn in neighbour’s driveway as William and his sister ride their bikes.
At 9.37am, she took that last photo of William.
At one stage, the inquest was halted after the coroner agreed to an application by counsel Michelle Swift, who was appearing for William’s biological father Brendan Collins, to send the photograph for further testing.
A photographic metadata expert gave evidence that the photograph was “created” at 7.39am and “corrected” at 9.37am, which would have resulted in a “missing” two hours.
William’s foster parents told police that the timer on the camera was off by about two hours and it is understood that further investigations have confirmed that.
At 10.30am, the foster father texted his wife to say he was on his way home and would just be another five minutes.
At 10.57am, the foster mum called police on the landline to say William went missing around 10.30am.
The first police officer was on the scene just nine minutes later but William has never been seen again.
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