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Police find blue fabric and pump creek in hunt for William Tyrrell’s remains

By Sally Rawsthorne
Updated

Police hunting for evidence in the search for William Tyrrell’s remains have sent a square of blue material for testing.

Hunting in bushland around a kilometre from the Mid North Coast home from where the little boy vanished in 2014, Strike Force Rosann officers found a small piece of fabric in the area that police have been searching since Monday off the back of specific new intel.

Police pump the creek on the fifth day of the search

Police pump the creek on the fifth day of the searchCredit: NSW Police Media

The fabric was placed in an evidence bag and sent for forensic testing, which is likely to take several weeks.

The latest search for William began this week as police investigate the boy’s foster-mother as the sole person of interest in the matter.

If William’s body had been in that area, hydrologist Professor Jon Olley has concluded that his remains – either bones or a scrap of clothing – could have only washed into a nearby tributary on private land.

Police on Friday were pumping water from the creek, despite inclement weather in Kendall that threatens to halt the search in the coming days.

The former foster-mother of William Tyrrell leaves her home in Sydney on Thursday.

The former foster-mother of William Tyrrell leaves her home in Sydney on Thursday.Credit: Kate Geraghty

Strike Force Rosann officers have also spent the week digging up the garden at the house where William disappeared, as detectives probe whether he plunged to his death from a second-storey balcony.

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Dozens of officers led by Detective Chief Inspector David Laidlaw will also search a third area – the land abutting the road between the house and the bushland.

Police have also seized a car that belonged to William’s foster-grandmother when he disappeared that will undergo forensic examination in the coming weeks. She has since died.

Drone footage of the area police are searching.

Drone footage of the area police are searching.Credit: Wolter Peeters

The Herald revealed this week that police will not be able to charge anybody over William’s disappearance and presumed death without the physical evidence the search is hoping to unearth.

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Original URL: https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/police-pump-creek-in-hunt-for-william-tyrrell-s-remains-20211119-p59ack.html