‘Cops have person of interest’ in William Tyrrell case

Police investigating the 2014 disappearance of William Tyrrell focus on a person of interest previously ruled out.

William Tyrrell went missing in 2014.

Police investigating the 2014 disappearance of William Tyrrell are focusing on a person of interest who had previously been ruled out by detectives.

William was three and with his foster parents at their foster grandmother’s home in Kendall on the NSW north coast when he disappeared on September 12, 2014.

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

The Daily Telegraph reports the investigation has reverted to focus on a suspect previously ruled out by detectives.

The suspect will be interviewed soon and confronted with fresh details discovered by investigators.

“It shines a totally new complexion on what investigators believe happened to William,’’ a senior police officer told The Daily Telegraph.

The morning he disappeared, William was playing on the lawn of their home with his older ­sister.

Dressed in his much-loved Spider-Man outfit, this was the last time William was seen.

His sister has been unable to provide police with many details of what happened when William disappeared.

Neither she nor his foster parents are allowed to be identified.

William’s biological parents and grandmother have made many public statements asking for help in solving the mystery, and claiming they will “never stop looking” for William.

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

There have been a number of theories about what happened to William, including one that he was grabbed by a person ­involved in a pedophile ring ­operating in the area.

A coronial inquest was launched into William’s disappearance in March 2019. It is ongoing.

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