William Tyrrell: Police dog handler describes ‘impossible’ search
A police dog handler said he found tracking William Tyrrell was “impossible” on the day the three-year-old vanished because it took two hours for him and his dog to reach the scene.
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A police dog handler said he found tracking William Tyrrell was “impossible” on the day the three-year-old vanished because it took two hours for him and his dog to reach the scene.
The dog named Gov also became riddled with ticks and was exhausted because of the density of bushland where William vanished.
A statement of Senior Constable Matthew Gates was tendered today in a directions hearing into the 2014 disappearance of William from outside his foster grandmother’s home in Kendall, on the NSW mid-north coast.
“Upon my arrival on the 12th of September, 2014, I assessed the area and found that tracking was impossible. This is due to the amount of time that had passed between William Tyrrell going missing and the time it took for me to travel to Kendall,” Sen-Const Gates wrote in his statement in February this year.
“I believe this to be approximately two hours.”
MORE ON WILLIAM TYRRELL:
William’s foster mum ‘heard a high-pitched scream’
‘It’s just too quiet’: Foster mum’s frantic search for William
Sen-Const Gates and Gov found it difficult to climb through the dense scrub where William was believed lost.
“During the three days I spent searching, PD (Police Dog) Gov was pushed to the point of exhaustion on several occasions,” he wrote.
“The terrain was extremely difficult to walk through even for an adult. It consisted of thick undergrowth made up of long grass and lantana.
“After completing my searching on the 13th September, PD Gov collapsed at the rear of my police vehicle. I removed approximately 30 paralysis ticks from him. I contacted East Port Vet Clinic in Port Macquarie and put them on notice that I might … bring PD Gov in for treatment.”
Counsel assisting the coroner, Gerard Craddock SC, expressed frustration in today’s hearing with unhelpful information provided by members of the public during the first tranche of inquest hearings which were held before deputy state coroner Harriet Grahame last month.
“We did receive a number of pieces of information during the course of the first tranche of hearings and subsequently, as is commonly the case … the information provided was somewhat varying in quality,” Mr Craddock said.
“Some of it really was an invitation to waste police time and we’re not pleased with that.”
But he said the investigation — being led by Homicide Squad’s detective chief inspector David Laidlaw — was certainly still open to useful information.
“It is an ongoing investigation by the police and many of them are still working very hard and we still want people to come forward,” Mr Craddock said.
“There is undoubtedly someone out there who knows more who hasn’t been in contact yet.”
The remainder of the inquest hearings were set down for four weeks — from August 5 to August 30 — during which time persons of interest are expected to take the stand.
Two men, a neighbour in the street where William vanished and a washing machine repair man, were legally represented at the directions hearing today.
Lawyers for all parties involved are expected to be given the brief of evidence relevant to the second tranche of hearings and a list of witnesses to be called, on July 1.
“It is likely that that list will not be a final list,” Mr Craddock said.
The opening week of hearings saw emotional evidence given on the witness stand by both William’s biological and foster parents.
His foster mother explained hearing a shrill scream near bushland just moments after he disappeared wearing his beloved Spider-Man outfit.
“It was like a scream. Like when a child hurts themselves unexpectedly,” the foster mother said.
“I got into the bush and I thought ‘I can’t see any red’, I thought ‘maybe I imagined it, maybe it was a bird.”
William’s biological father told the inquest state authorities who confiscated William from him and William’s mother “f**ked up”.
“It was the Minister’s duty of care to keep William safe until he was 18. That was not the case at all,” he told the inquest.
Originally published as William Tyrrell: Police dog handler describes ‘impossible’ search