‘She knows where he’s buried.’ Tyrrell cop accuses foster mum

A senior detective has claimed William Tyrrell’s foster mother knows where the three-year-old’s body is buried.

The foster mother, left, of missing three-year-old William Tyrrell. Picture: Jeremy Piper

A year after police did a stunning U-turn in their investigation into the disappearance of William Tyrrell, letting it be known the boy’s foster mother was now “a person of interest”, a senior detective has sensationally claimed the woman knows where the missing three-year-old’s body is buried.

A court has heard that the ­foster mother was grilled by the NSW Crime Commission in a ­secret hearing over allegations she disposed of William’s body in 2014 after he fell from a balcony at his foster grandmother’s home in Kendall on the NSW mid-north coast.

Detective Sergeant Andrew Lonergan, a long-time member of the Tyrrell strikeforce, told the court he had “formed the view that (the foster mother) knows where William Tyrrell is”.

The bombshell claims came as the 57-year-old woman – who cannot be identified – faced Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court on Thursday on charges of giving false or misleading evidence to the Crime Commission.

Police allege the foster mother lied about claims she hit a 10-year-old girl, and they were forced to deny heated claims by her lawyer that the charges were laid to pressure her in the hope of “breaking her spirit”.

William’s foster parents have always denied any involvement in William’s disappearance and have not been charged over it.

Missing boy William Tyrrell. Picture: AAP

But police bugged their home and intercepted their phone calls in 2020 when the focus of the investigation changed following the removal of former top cop Gary Jubelin from the case.

Audio played to the court allegedly captures the sound of a girl screaming and sobbing while a woman says “stand up, stand up”.

The girl can be heard threatening to call the police as the woman demands to know “where did you put the wooden spoon?”

The girl screams “Please no” before a sound, alleged to be smacking with the wooden spoon, is heard on the recording.

The foster mother cried in court as the audio was played.

A phone tap allegedly records the woman telling her husband she hit the child “really hard with that wooden spoon” just after he left the house, and that it would leave a massive welt on her leg.

“She’s still going on about it,” the woman allegedly tells her husband.

Earlier this year, a court heard that the girl had begun “mis­behaving around another six-year-old child and that there seemed to be a level of jealousy between the children as the older girl felt “left out”.

Police allege the woman lied or misled Crime Commission officials when she told the hearing she did not strike the child.

Sergeant Lonergan denied the charges were improperly laid in a bid to put pressure on the foster mother. In cross-examination, defence barrister John Stratton SC put it to Sergeant Lonergan that police were “hoping to break her spirit”.

Detective Sergeant Andrew Lonergan. Picture: Jeremy Piper

“Our main objective is to find out where William Tyrrell is,” Sergeant Lonergan replied.

“It’s not the purpose – but if it’s of assistance,” he added.

Sergeant Lonergan said he believed William had been buried in an area on the corner of Batar Creek Rd and Cobb and Co Rd on the outskirts of Kendall.

He said he believed William’s foster mother knew where he was. Mr Stratton said that was “a false belief”.

Last year, police mounted an extensive search of the area, even pumping out a section of creek at the location, but the three-week-long operation failed to shed any new light on the mystery.

The court was told of a con­versation in 2021 between the woman and police officers who had gone to her home to serve a summons for the Crime Commission appearance.

Police suggested they had information that William had fallen from a balcony at his foster grandmother’s home and that the foster mother had disposed of his body.

“We understand decisions have been made for different people for different reasons,” they told her. “We aren’t guessing, we aren’t bluffing. We know why, we know how, we know where he is.”

The woman is alleged to have responded: “What? Why haven’t you got him?”

At the Crime Commission hearing, she again denied any involvement in William’s disappearance. “I didn’t touch him, I don’t know where he is,” she said, according to evidence presented at Thursday’s hearing.

The foster mother has also been charged with two counts of common assault and two counts of intimidating a child, who has since been removed from her care. Earlier this year, William’s foster father, who also cannot be named, also pleaded not guilty to two charges of giving false or misleading evidence to the Crime Commission.

The hearing against the foster mother continues on Friday.