Disappearance of William Tyrrell

William Tyrrell

Photo of Tyrrell taken a few minutes before he disappeared
Born (2011-06-26)26 June 2011
Disappeared 12 September 2014 (aged 3)
Kendall, New South Wales, Australia
Status Missing for 1 year, 7 months and 11 days
Nationality Australian

William Tyrrell (26 June 2011 – disappeared 12 September 2014) is an Australian boy who became, at the age of 3, a missing person after disappearing from his grandmother's house in Kendall, New South Wales. He had been playing with his sister and was wearing a Spider-Man suit at the time of his disappearance.[1] He is believed to have been abducted.[2][3][4][5]

Disappearance

William Tyrrell disappeared from his grandmother's house on Benaroon Drive in Kendall at 10.30am on 12 September 2014. At the time of his disappearance, he was playing with his sister in the front yard and was wearing a Spider-Man suit. The house is directly across the bush land road from the Kendall State Forest, about 35 kilometres (22 mi) south of Port Macquarie. The family had arrived the night before the day he disappeared. At the time of disappearance, William wore his beloved Spider-Man suit and was playing hide-and-seek with his sister in the front yard and back yard of the house. While William's father went into town, 2 km away, the children played. William ran around the side of the house several times while his mother went inside to make a cup of tea and his grandmother was still sitting outside. William ran around the corner side of the house yet again. However, after several minutes, since he did not turn around back to the back yard, William's mother went to look for him but he had found missing since without a trace.[6] The police said that the boy disappeared during a five-minute window from sight.[7]

Investigation

Hundreds of police, State Emergency Services, Rural Fire Service and members of the community searched day and night for Tyrrell. Specialist police, including the sex crimes squad form Strike Force were immediately formed. Motorcycles and helicopters were bought in to search for William. 200 volunteers searched overnight, hundreds of people combed rugged terrain around the home. However, after 5 days of search, the police said they were unable to come up with any leads.[8]

The police later began investigations on finding the drivers of two cars were spotted on the street on the day of William's disappearance. The cars described as being a white station wagon and an older-style grey sedan were parked in the street on the morning Tyrrell went missing.[9] These cars were noticed by William's mother since they were unusually parked on the street, rather than in one of the long driveways. The cars were seen with its driver's side windows down. The police think suspicious of these particular vehicles as there is no logical reason why they would parked on the street before William's disappearance.[10] The police have also interviewed dozens of people including a number of pedophiles. A Current Affair reported that about 20 registered sex offenders were living in the surrounding area of Kendall where William Tyrrell went missing.[11] Two convicted pedophiles, who are persons of interest in the case, may have met up on the day William vanished. The family of a convicted pedophile, who had 90 convictions against his name including aggravated indecent assault of a minor, said he was going to visit another convicted child sex offender on that day and returned home drunk that afternoon. But he told police he spent that day in the bush collecting scrap metal. Interestingly, it is reported that both men lived in the Kendall area and had been driving vehicles that matched the description of two cars - a grey sedan and a white station wagon - that had been seen driving near the Tyrell house around the time he disappeared. They also had been members and linked to an organisation called GAPA and were friends. [12] However, the pair have both already been questioned by the police, and they denied being friends or having any involvement in the boy's disappearance. [13] [14]

On 20 February 2016, a dedicated new investigation team has been established by the police with more than a dozen detectives, analysts with as many resources now working around the clock to solve the case. The team will also sift through hundreds of pieces of information pouring in from the public. The ramped-up investigation comes after a personal plea from William's parents to members of State Parliament, Deputy Premier and Police Minister Troy Grant, at a private event late last year. The family spokesperson said that "They just want to reinforce that police believe he could still be alive and they're just asking members of the public not to give up on him."[15] The case has led to a record number of calls to Crime Stoppers since William disappeared.[16] There have been 500 documents created for this case by the police and about 1400 information reports were received from the public.[17]

Current status

Despite various search efforts by the police and the forensic testing which failed to turn up any trace of Tyrrell or clues about his disappearance. Therefore, the police have yet to conclude what actually happened to Tyrrell. [18] However, despite the lack of evidence, Chief Inspector Jubelin commented that the investigation into the disappearance of William Tyrrell remains a priority for the NSW Police Force and said that the investigators would treat the case as though Tyrrel was alive until they had evidence proving otherwise. [19] [20] On 20 February 2016, the police spokesperson said that the ongoing investigation was now one of the biggest investigations being run by homicide and say they have not given up hope of finding William alive.[21]

References

  1. ↑ "William Tyrrell's fourth birthday sees police renew appeal for information". ABC News. 26 June 2015. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  2. ↑ Damjanovic, Dijana (13 September 2015). "William Tyrrell: Forensic profiler reveals details about three-year-old's suspected kidnapper". ABC News. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  3. ↑ "William Tyrrell disappearance: NSW Police investigate possible involvement of paedophile ring". ABC News. 17 April 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  4. ↑ Partridge, Emma (23 April 2015). "William Tyrrell 'person of interest' charged with Campbelltown child sexual assaults". Campbelltown-Macarthur Advertiser. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  5. ↑ Benny-Morrison, Ava (6 September 2015). "William Tyrrell investigation: highs, lows and false hope 12 months on". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  6. ↑ "William Tyrell: the little boy who vanished without a trace". Herald Sun. 24 January 2015. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  7. ↑ "William Tyrell: Three-year-old boy wearing Spider-Man costume missing at Kendall, on New South Wales mid-north coast, search continues". ABC News. 14 September 2014. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
  8. ↑ "William Tyrrell: Timeline of boy's disappearance in September 2014". ABC News. 19 September 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
  9. ↑ "William Tyrrell breakthrough: Police investigating the toddler's disappearance a year ago seize a car belonging to a convicted child abuser that was 'parked in the street where he was last seen'". Daily Mail. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  10. ↑ "Police confirm car seized in William Tyrrell investigation". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  11. ↑ "Police no closer to finding William Tyrrell 500 days since disappearance". Nine Network. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  12. ↑ "William Tyrrell case: Network of senior groups linked to disappearance of toddler". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
  13. ↑ "Two paedophiles who are 'persons of interest' in the case of missing William Tyrrell 'met up on the day he went missing'". Daily mail. Retrieved 27 February 2016.
  14. ↑ "Spotlight falls on two ‘persons of interest’ in William Tyrrell case". News.com.au. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
  15. ↑ "Hunt for missing toddler William Tyrrell intensifies as more cops working to find him". Herald Sun. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  16. ↑ "Hunt for missing toddler William Tyrrell intensifies as more cops working to find him". The Daily Telegraph. 21 February 2016. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  17. ↑ "William Tyrrell's family speak about their unbearable grief at losing their little boy". news.com.au. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  18. ↑ "Fourth man is quizzed in hunt for William Tyrrell". ABC News. 14 September 2014. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  19. ↑ "William Tyrrell investigation: highs, lows and false hope 12 months on". The Sydney Morning Herald. 26 June 2015. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  20. ↑ "William Tyrrell breakthrough: Police investigating the toddler's disappearance a year ago seize a car belonging to a convicted child abuser that was 'parked in the street where he was last seen'".
  21. ↑ "More resources for William Tyrell search". Sky News. 21 February 2016. Retrieved 21 February 2016.

External links

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