Tragic end in search for missing autistic teen, William Wall, in Yarra Ranges
The devastated father of William Wall — whose body was found on Wednesday 1km from his Launching Place home after a two-day bushland search — has paid tribute to the community and emergency crews who tried desperately to find his son.
Victoria
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The shattered father of an autistic teen found dead on Wednesday after a two-day bushland search has thanked the community for their efforts.
Dad Shane Wall paid tribute to his 14-year-old son William, whose body was found at Yarra Junction just over 1km from his home.
“I wish I had better news regarding our beautiful and caring son and brother William Wall unfortunately he is no longer with us,” dad Shane Wall posted on social media.
“We don’t know how to begin to thank everyone who searched and supported us in the last 48 hours.
“The list is endless.
“We are so fortunate to live in an amazing and supportive community.”
It comes as a fundraiser for the Wall family has already raised more than $12,000 to help support the grieving family.
“The community is struggling to come to terms with this tragic loss of such a beautiful boy, we couldn’t possibly imagine what the family is going through at this time,” organiser and neighbour Nikki Callaghan said.
“Any amount at all will go to William’s family to help them grieve without worrying about bills.”
Donations to the Wall family can be made here.
Police confirmed the 14-year-old had been found dead in bushland off residential Victoria Street in Yarra Junction.
His death is not being treated as suspicious. A report will be prepared for the coroner.
William’s heartbroken family visited the scene of his death late on Wednesday.
His tearful brother and grandfather were both escorted to the scene by police.
William’s body was discovered by a member of a local boxing club.
A friend of the Wall family, Tyson Truscott, said they would be devastated by William’s death. “He was a great kid. There is nothing bad about him. He loved going for runs, he went flat out,” said Mr Truscott.
William vanished after setting off from his Launching Place home for a short walk about 6.45am on Tuesday.
His disappearance sparked a massive search involving more than 100 police and dozens of SES units which focused on a 10km radius of rugged bushland surrounding Warburton, due to reported sightings of William.
Mr Wall on Wednesday said his son had never disappeared before.
William’s death sent shockwaves through the local community, some of whom initially helped look for him in dense bush.
A large group of community volunteers gathered at the Warburton staging point early Wednesday to aid in the search but were turned away by police as they already had enough resources.
Despite this, many locals set off into the bush in the hope they could find William.
His father broke down in tears on Wednesday as he asked locals to check outbuildings and put out fruit and protein bars for his missing son.
He and the family, including Wiliam’s siblings Sophie, Jake and Harrison, joined crews in the search from the start.
Temperatures dipped to 7C on Tuesday night, and constant rain made the search difficult on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison described William’s death as “very sad news” and thanked emergency services and volunteers.
“My heart goes out to William’s family and loved ones,’ the Prime Minister said.
“Thank you to all those who were involved in the search.”
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said William’s death was a terrible loss.
“So deeply sorry to hear of the loss of William Wall,” Mr Hunt said.
“Just a terrible, terrible loss of a beautiful young life.
“My thoughts and prayers are with his family, his friends and the Yarra Ranges community.”
LOCALS TURNED AWAY FROM SEARCH
In a tense meeting, a large group of goodwilled locals were turned away from the search, after being told they were not needed and should return home.
One man said the decision was “bullshit” and that more volunteers would help find William sooner.
Police warned locals the search area was very treacherous and the wet weather would make things worse.
They were told the best thing to do was share information about his disappearance on social media.
Authorities earlier focused on the O’Shannassy Aqueduct Trail in Warburton, 16km from William’s home, after police received a reported sighting of an “upset male” from what they described as a “credible source”.
“Through the night we had a lot of other police resources deployed,” he said.
“We’ve got a far larger contingent of police on the ground at the moment … in excess of 100 people supporting the search.”
Asked why volunteers were turned away, Insp Goddard said: “We are professionals at dealing with searches. This is not an uncommon occurrence for us to search for people. And in this area here we do often have people go missing.”
“We are comfortable with the resourcing that we do have in place at the moment.
“This is not to do with COVID. We don’t want to bring this into a COVID conversation. What we are doing is focusing our search on Will.”
TREACHEROUS CONDITIONS HAMPERED EFFORTS
Rain predicted for the area most of Wednesday was predicted to impact search efforts.
William left for his daily walk along the Warburton Trail, telling relatives he would only be gone for 15 minutes.
A large number of Bush Search & Rescue, SES, police, including the Mounted Branch and air wing, were out searching for William.
Volunteer Peta McMillian-Kelly and her 13-year-old daughter Lila said it was “disheartening” to be turned away and that they would go out searching for William anyway.
“We are going to take our dogs for a walk around the aqueduct. We have already been searching this morning. It’s really disappointing (being turned away). We have all come with good intentions to find William and the weather is getting worse … the rain has started and it’s going to get colder.”
Lila said: “I am very worried for him. If it was me I’d be terrified.”
Karen Duke, from Warburton, left the light on at her home.
She said being told to go home made her feel “useless” but she would keep an eye out for William at local playgrounds and trails.
“I think people feel like they want to do something. We want to help,” she said.
A search party of dozens, including many SES volunteers, combed dense terrain between Millgrove and East Warburton on Tuesday night.
It came after more than a dozen SES members left the staging area outside Yarra Junction police station about 8pm for a long night ahead of searching for the lost teen.
Crews made noise and yelled in an attempt to lure the teen out of the bush, in the scenario he had taken shelter somewhere.
They called out: “William, this is the SES, can you hear us?”
Donations to the Wall family can be made here.