Ten years on and no answers in William Tyrrell mystery

It was a quiet Friday morning, on a cul-de-sac opposite thick bushland in a sleepy town on the NSW Mid North Coast.

A young boy played in the yard of his foster grandmother’s home with his sister.

And at some point, his foster mother has said, during a game of “daddy tiger”, he slipped around the corner and vanished, never to be seen again.

Thursday marks the 10-year anniversary of one of the country’s most enduring mysteries – the disappearance of William Tyrrell.

William should be 13 and have started high school this year.

But a decade on, what happened to the little boy in the Spider-Man suit remains a mystery.

There are hopes that a long-delayed inquest will deliver answers for his loved ones – but it’s a question which may never be solved.

SEPTEMBER 12, 2014

On the afternoon of September 11, 2014, William – then aged three – and his family made the four-hour drive from Sydney to visit his foster grandmother in Kendall.

The following morning, the foster mother sat outside, watching as William and his sister played a game similar to hide and seek.

At some point around 10.30am, he ducked around a corner, never to be seen again, the foster mother has previously said.

At the time, she did not think much of it but after not hearing him for several minutes, realised something was wrong.

“I’m speechless, I’m walking around in a circle on the spot thinking where is he? Why can’t I see him?” the foster mother previously told the Where’s William Tyrrell podcast.

“And I’m yelling out ‘William, where are you? You need to talk to mummy, tell me where you are. I can’t see you, I can’t hear you. Where are you?

“And he was nowhere. And I remember thinking, how could he just disappear?”

She estimate he wasn’t out of her sight for five minutes.

WHERE’S WILLIAM

At 10.56am, his foster mother rang triple-0 to report him missing, with police arriving less than 10 minutes later.

“My son, he’s missing, he’s three-and-a-half,” the foster mother said on the call, which has previously been played at an inquest.

The family and neighbours had been frantically searching

William’s foster father had arrived back home after driving into town for a better internet connection while he dialled into a work conference call.

A massive search of nearby homes and bushland was launched.

Police, SES workers, the Rural Fire Service and local residents searched the surrounding area and local forests.

Detectives from the Sex Crimes Squad became involved in the investigation before the Homicide Squad took carriage, establishing Strike Force Rosann.

They investigated reports that two cars were seen in the quiet street that morning.

Washing machine repairman Bill Spedding at one point became the prime suspect in William’s disappearance despite consistently denying having anything to do with his disappearance.

Police attempted to prosecute him for an unrelated historical sexual assault, however he was subsequently acquitted.

He successfully sued the State of NSW for malicious prosecution – and was awarded $1.8m in damages – as well as being cleared of having any involvement in William’s case.

Over the last decade, police have received thousands of reported sightings.

Despite 10 years of searching, the mystery of what happened to William hangs over the Kendall community and his family.

An inquest into his disappearance began in March, 2019 and probed whether he had been snatched by a predator.

THE SEARCH FOR ANSWERS

In 2021, police began investigating a theory that William had died in an accidental fall from a balcony and the foster mother had disposed of the body.

William’s foster mother and father have continuously denied the allegation or having any knowledge of William’s disappearance.

And, the local court has previously heard, that when asked about the theory at a Crime Commission hearing, she said: “I didn’t, I didn’t.”

In late 2021, police began a fresh search of Kendall, sifting through the garden bed below the balcony of the home previously occupied by William’s foster grandmother.

Deputy State Coroner Harriet Grahame was due to hand down her inquest findings in June 2021 – however that was delayed.

NSW Police sent a brief of evidence to the Director of Public Prosecutions asking whether the foster mother could be charged with interfering with a corpse and perverting the course of justice.

William’s foster parents continue to deny any wrongdoing and the foster mother has not been charged.

The foster parent’s solicitor, Rylie Hahn, in September last year, called for police to disclose any evidence.

“William’s foster mother maintains she had nothing to do with his disappearance … and asks the police to continue to look for William and what happened to him,” Ms Hahn said.

William’s foster mother was in 2022 found not guilty of lying to the NSW Crime Commission.

William’s foster father was in November last year also acquitted of five counts of lying to the NSW Crime Commission.

The local court previously heard that when they were summoned to appear before the Crime Commission, she was told by an officer: “We know why, we know how. We know where he is.”

The inquest is now scheduled to resume with another block of hearings later this year.

During a directions hearing at the NSW Coroner’s Court last month, Ms Grahame confirmed the dates for the final block of hearings – in the weeks starting November 4 and December 16.