NSW detectives to search three new locations for remains of William Tyrrell

Detectives will comb three new locations in the regional town where William Tyrrell went missing, senior police have revealed.

William vanished in 2014. Picture: Police Media

Detectives will comb three new locations in the regional town where William Tyrrell went missing, senior police revealed on Monday.

It was also revealed investigators would be searching for the remains of the boy, who vanished from a property on the mid-north coast seven years ago.

William was three years old when he disappeared in 2014 while playing with his five-year-old sister in the front yard of his foster grandmother’s home in Kendall.

Speaking to the media on Monday State Crime Command director Detective Chief Superintendent Darren Bennett detailed the renewed search efforts and “operational activity” under Strike Force Rosann.

Detectives will search three new areas in Kendall for William’s remains.

He said fresh search efforts will be focused on the Kendall area and will take two to three weeks.

“There are three specific locations and they are all in the Kendall area,” he said.

“I don’t know who took William. We are hoping to find out throughout this investigation.

“It’s highly likely that if we found something it would be a body. We are looking for the remains of William Tyrrell, no doubt about that.”

When asked whether police decided to renew efforts after receiving a fresh lead, Chief Superintendent Bennett agreed but would not comment further.

He was also probed about new information the force reportedly received in September which pointed to a previous suspect being questioned again.

Detective Chief Superintendent Darren Bennett addressed the media. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Christian Gilles

“This is in relation to information we have received, no doubt about that. There is an investigative review that has been undertaken as an ongoing process but there is also new evidence,” he said.

“I will no go into specifics.”

He also confirmed detectives would be adopting a different search method and calling in experts outside of the police force to help with the search.

There’s been no trace of William since he vanished in 2014 but images of the youngster, wearing his famous Spider-Man suit, were circulated across Australia.

He was wearing the costume when he vanished.

William Tyrrell in his costume

The morning he disappeared, William was playing on the lawn of their home with his older ­sister. His sister has been unable to provide police with many details of what happened when William disappeared.

The investigation, one of the largest undertaken by the state’s police force, initially identified 690 persons of interest.

While there have been several suspects and theories about his disappearance – including that he was taken by a person involved in a paedophile ring – investigators have not been able to establish what happened despite extensive investigations.

In June, on what would have been William’s 10th birthday, detectives said “no stone (would be) left unturned” in solving the mystery of the boy’s disappearance, in what has long been regarded as one of Australia’s most baffling missing persons cases.

William’s case was put back in the spotlight in early September when police confirmed new information was being investigated.

At the time, Detective Chief Inspector David Laidlaw said: “Further information has since come to light, as part of our ongoing review of the materials gathered by investigators since the moment William went missing seven years ago.”

The NSW government ­offered a $1m reward in 2016 and it is still active for information that leads to discovery of ­William’s whereabouts.

In September this year a professional bush tracker said he was devastated police called off the quest for the boy’s location “too early”.

Jake Cassar, a bush tracker called in to help the search for William and who also led the hunt for three-year-old Anthony “AJ” Elfalak, said he still suffered from the heartache of William's search party being scaled back after seven days.

William’s case was put back in the spotlight in early September when police confirmed “new information” was being investigated.

But detectives did not elaborate on what that involved.

Mr Cassar, 45, said it was a painful reminder of the “missed opportunity” to find more information when the 2014 search lost momentum.

Strike Force Rosann revisit Kendall for the seventh anniversary of William’s disappearance.

At the time, police said if William was in the bush it was unlikely he would still be alive after six days.

“I was devastated because I was open to the idea of him still being out there … anything was possible,” Mr Cassar told NCA NewsWire at the time.

Mr Cassar, from the Central Coast, said an assumption that William had “definitely” been abducted settled in on day five of the search.

“It was deeply concerning having that locked in that he had definitely been kidnapped,” he said.

“And that’s why, days after the search had largely ended, I stayed out there with my dog and a couple of volunteers from the area.”