Child taken from suspect as cops renew William Tyrrell bush search
The chief suspect in the disappearance of William Tyrrell has had a child removed from her custody as a major police search recommences for the missing toddler’s body.
Police & Courts
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NSW’s top cop has confirmed police are investigating just one suspect in the disappearance of William Tyrrell while expressing his frustration over the inquiry’s “wasted” time looking at other persons of interest.
Hundreds of police will descend on Kendall on the NSW mid-north coast over the next two to three weeks in the hope of finally answering the question of what happened to William after he went missing on September 11, 2014.
The major search on new ground comes after police received information about the possibility of William’s remains being in the area, with ground penetrating x-ray technology and polylite — that shows up DNA such as blood — to be sprayed across the dense scrub in the days ahead.
The search comes as it can be revealed the suspect in the current investigation recently had her child removed from her custody and an AVO taken out against her.
For legal reasons, The Daily Telegraph has chosen not to name the suspect. She has previously been spoken to by police but never pursued.
When asked on breakfast radio this morning how many potential suspects police were currently looking into, NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said there was just one.
“There is certainly one person in particular that we are looking closely at,” he told 2GB’s Ben Fordham.
“I’m confident that the team who has the investigation at the moment can solve it, I truly believe that.”
He added: “We’ve never given up on finding what happened to William Tyrell and I’ve said that from day one.”
Comm Fuller said the first detectives on the case may have “wasted” time looking into people who were “clearly” not linked to the boy’s disappearance seven years ago.
“The investigation was looking at some persons of interest that were clearly not and I think some time was wasted on that, and bushland is overgrown,” he said.
“But a new team on-board … inherited what was a bit of a mess and have cleaned up that investigation. They’ve got a clear strategy … they’ve been meticulously pulling apart this matter and they’re going back to revisit some of these locations with new technology,” he said.
Police Minister David Eliott said an internal review into the William Tyrell investigation was “the least” they can do after Comm Fuller said detectives “wasted” time chasing the wrong suspects.
Mr Elliott said he expects an internal review to be likely when the investigation is completed in light of recent breakthroughs.
“Something of this magnitude will probably automatically see at least an internal post operation review and that’s appropriate,” he said.
“It’s the least that we can offer the family and it’s the least we can offer the community.”
NSW Police State Crime Command Director Darren Bennett told media on Monday that detectives were “hopeful” that after seven years they could finally bring the state’s most famous missing persons case to a “conclusion” — either by finding William’s remains, or charging someone with his disappearance.
“There’s three specific locations and they’re all in the Kendall area. We’re hopeful that it will take us a degree towards proving an offence or finding out what happened to William Tyrrell,” Detective Chief Superintendent Bennett said on Monday.
“We’re very hopeful that we can bring this matter to some sort of conclusion.”
The targeted search began briefly on Monday afternoon but will recommence in full on Tuesday, with dense bushland near the intersection of Cobb and Co Rd and Batar Creek Rd to be the focus.
A creek flows through all three areas to be searched. It is less than a kilometre from where William vanished.
Hydrologist Professor Jon Olley, who helped in the retrieval of Daniel Morcombe’s remains in Queensland, and archaeologist Tony Lowe joined specialist police at the scene on Monday.
Prof Olley specialises in water and soil displacement and his expertise will be used to assist searchers in understanding what soil has moved — and where it has moved to — from floods and heavy rain since William disappeared.
Archaeologist and forensic anthropologist Penny McArdle will also be assisting in the dig.
Rural Fire Service volunteers spent Monday afternoon clearing parts of undergrowth before an excavator is due to be brought in this morning.
The dig could last several weeks.
Det Supt Bennett admitted that police think the chances of William still being alive are remote and they are most likely looking for remains.
“It’s highly likely that if we found something that would be a body, we are looking for the remains of William Tyrrell there’s no doubt about that,” he said.
“We’ve got some specialist assistance of what we’re going to do and experts from outside the police force are going to be assisting us.
“We’re acting on behalf of the coroner and in conjunction with coronial orders, she will be kept updated with regard to our progress.”
William was last seen at his foster grandmother’s home on Bennaroon Dve in Kendall on September 12, 2014.
That morning William was playing a game called “tigers” on the lawn of the home.
At the time William was dressed in his beloved Spider-Man outfit which he was photographed in not long before he vanished.
A $1 million reward was offered by the NSW government in 2016 for information which leads to the discovery of William’s whereabouts.
That reward remains viable for any such information.
There have been multiple searches in and around the home where he went missing but not one piece of evidence was ever found to indicate what happened to him.
In March 2019, a coronial inquest was launched into William’s disappearance, which is still ongoing.
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