William Tyrrell’s birth parents became suspects after tense visit

William Tyrrell’s biological parents were considered suspects in his disappearance in part because of a tense contact visit.

William Tyrrell disappeared on September 12, 2014.

William Tyrrell’s biological parents were considered suspects in his disappearance in part because they had attended a tense contact visit with him just three weeks ­before he went missing.

William, who was then three, had referred to his mum, who was pregnant with her fourth child at the time, as “Birth Mum” while he played on equipment at the Chipmunks Play Centre in Sydney.

She would later tell police that he shouted at her: “You’re not my real mum.”

William’s disappearance is the subject of a new podcast series, Nowhere Child, by The Australian. Episode three revisits the last contact visit between William and his biological parents, which was supervised by three staff, including two Salvation Army social workers, who sat on the sidelines, taking notes. His parents bought him chicken and chips, and new clothes and shoes.

Police investigating William’s disappearance from the village of Kendall three weeks later wondered if the parents had tried to snatch him back from foster care. They were in fact working to get him back through the court system, a process that ended when he went missing.

No trace of William has been found since he disappeared from outside a house in Kendall on the morning of September 12, 2014.

Only one person has faced charges in relation to his disapp­earance, the former homicide ­detective who once led the invest­igation, Gary Jubelin.

He faced court this week, charged with making illegal voice recordings.

Mr Jubelin strenuously denies wrongdoing, saying he had an “operational” reason for recording conversations with a neighb­our who lives on the same street. He was supported by Sydney couple Mark and Faye Leveson, who described him as the “victim’s detective”. The Levesons’ son, Matt, was missing for 10 years before his body was found, after some creative investigating by Mr Jubelin.

“Before he joined the case, we could go a year without hearing anything from police, and if you don’t hear from them, it gets into your mind, are they even doing anything?” Mr Leveson said.

“Gary works hard, but he doesn’t ask the people on his team to do anything he wouldn’t do himself. If there’s a search, he’s knee-deep in mud, covered in leeches, like the rest of them.

“He knows how to use the media. Some people don’t like that. Some police hate the media … With our son, we didn’t have the first press conference for six weeks. That was torture, not being able to say anything. We were told, don’t rock the boat, it could damage the investigation.”

Mr Leveson told The Weekend Australian he was aware of criticism of Mr Jubelin trying to corral resources for his investigations.

“Obviously you have to spread your resources wisely,” he said. “But Gary’s very mindful of that, too. He knows what he can … and can’t do. He’s very professional.”

A coronial inquest into William’s disappearance will resume on August 7. The next tranche of the inquest, where persons of ­interest will be quizzed, is expected to take a month.

Mr Jubelin’s supporters are critical of the direction the homicide squad has taken under the new boss, Detective Superintendent Scott Cook, saying he hadn’t worked an active homicide investigation before taking over. Sup­erintendent Cook was appointed after eight years heading two of the most high-­profile squads in the NSW State Crime Command.

Read more from Caroline Overington about the William Tyrrell investigation here.

Do you have information relating to this case? Contact [e-mail]