‘Debacle’: Inside the first search for William Tyrrell

Witnesses recall the “bedlam” as people and cars flocked to the scene on the day William Tyrrell vanished – potentially destroying key evidence.

EXCLUSIVE

Witnesses have described the “bedlam” of the initial search for missing three-year-old William Tyrrell, which may have hamstrung the police investigation a decade on.

Failures to secure the site that was ground zero for William’s disappearance could have scuppered chances for police to secure crucial evidence as they continue attempts to solve the enduring missing person’s case.

The long-delayed coronial inquest into William’s fate last week heard detectives have not uncovered any “forensic evidence” or “eye witness” since he was last seen in Kendall on September 12, 2014.

One resident, who spoke to news.com.au’s investigative podcast Witness: William Tyrrell, described the scene on Benaroon Dr that day as a “f***ing debacle”.

“The street was full of cars from one end to the other and we’ve got hundreds if not thousands of people crawling around our homes,” he said.

“(The search was) far from organised. A bunch of pissed idiots rambling around the street.”

Asked if he saw any attempt to stop searchers from entering certain areas, the man replied: “Not in the slightest”.

“I thought, ‘this was a f***ing debacle. This is just wrong’.”

He and others who observed the early days of the widespread search have recalled its disorganisation, describing multiple cars driving in and out of the area unchecked and civilians trampling over key areas on horseback.

William Tyrrell, 3.

His case has endured for 10 years. Pictures: Supplied/NSW Police

The first police officer was on the scene within minutes of William’s foster mother calling triple-0 about 10.56am on September 12, 2014, saying the boy had vanished after he was last seen playing at her mum’s home on Benaroon Dr.

A police inspector arrived about 11.40am to command the search, instructing officers to scour nearby homes, requesting support from the State Emergency Service (SES) and later calling for detectives to be sent to Kendall.

Then in the hours after a press release was issued about 12pm, scores of civilians also flocked to the street as news broke of the boy’s disappearance to join a growing search effort.

Michelle Suters told news.com.au she brought her 12-year-old daughter along to help look for William and arrived to see “people wandering around, walking through scrub”.

“There were hundreds of cars there, there were hundreds of people,” she said.

“There seemed to be people going in different directions, in different places, with different groups and to be honest, it was bedlam.”

Police, SES, firefighters, surf life savers and local volunteers searching on the third day since William went missing. Picture: Nathan Edwards

Another man who was visiting relatives on Benaroon Dr that day said he saw “a great deal of confusion from both the police and the SES”.

“There was no cordoning off of the street at all. Cars were driving up and down the street,” he said.

The man was surprised authorites were allowing more than just residents and guests to drive into the street.

“But any other vehicle should have been stopped and questioned,” he said.

“And I don’t even think until the following day it took place that way because there was still vehicles driving up and down for a bit of a show.”

No crime scene had been established yet, with the initial efforts of emergency services focused on finding a child who had potentially wandered away or got lost in dense scrub.

The home where William and his foster family were staying was searched on the day he went missing, with a police officer opening cupboards and looking under beds.

But it was not forensically examined by specialist police until the following day.

Over the next fortnight, according to a NSW Police press release, 50km sq of land was searched around Kendall – the equivalent of about 7000 football fields.

A woman who joined in the days after William went missing recalled seeing “people on horseback” riding on the front yard of the foster grandmother’s home.

“I guess you kind of went, ‘wow, look at all these people that are out looking, isn’t that fantastic’,” she told news.com.au.

“But then upon reflection, you go, ‘well, that’s … possibly destroying any evidence that might be around if something nefarious has happened.”

The foster parents of William Tyrell at the inquest hearing last week. Picture: NewsWire/John Appleyard

There appeared to be “zero control” over that site, she said: “And it’s not to criticise the police because I guess at that time they felt they were looking for a missing boy.”

During the criminal investigation police interviewed more than 260 different people, and canvassed hotels, motels, and caravan parks within a 10km radius.

Strike Force Rosann, the Homicide Squad team investigating the case, are probing a theory the boy may have died accidentally and his foster mother hid his body.

She has vehemently denied any involvement and has criticised the police for investigating her instead of finding “the person responsible for William’s disappearance”.

The search along Batar Creek Rd for the remains William Tyrrell in 2021. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Peter Lorimer

For the first time it was confirmed in the Lidcombe Coroner’s Court last week that extensive searches of bushland near Benaroon Dr in 2021 found nothing linked to the case.

The high-profile upheaval at the corner of Batar Creek Rd and Cobb and Co Rd, where police suspect William’s body was dumped, displayed a “further level of intensity and minute planning” than already thorough searches conducted in the past, the court heard.

Police also scoured a garden bed below a balcony at the home William was last seen, but the court heard no new evidence was obtained during the 2021 operations.

“It’s beyond any argument now that William Tyrrell has not been found,” Mr Craddock said.

“It’s beyond argument that no forensic evidence has been located at … Benaroon Drive or anywhere else that provides a clue for the reason for his disappearance.”

The inquest has been adjourned until December 14 – for what is set to be the final week of hearings that have spanned five years.

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