A new image captured by a cutting-edge US forensics laboratory could help solve one of Australia’s most chilling mysteries, 10 years after William Tyrrell vanished without a trace.
There have been no confirmed sightings of the three-year-old toddler since he disappeared from his foster grandmother’s home in Kendall on the New South Wales north coast on September 12, 2014.
Leading forensic imaging experts at US forensic research institute Parabon Nano Labs have created and published a computer-generated image of what William would look like today at the age of 13.
Dr Xanthé Mallett, senior lecturer in criminology at the University of Newcastle, told 10 News the de-aging in the image had been expertly done.
“These forensic medical artists can actually give us a likeness, a prediction of what someone would have looked like, by using images of that person at different ages,” she said.
“He (William) is going through puberty at this stage so there will be a lot of changes, especially in the lower half of his face. He will look more mature as his adult teeth come through.”
It is hoped the image will prompt someone with information about what happened to William to come forward and help solve one of the country’s biggest mysteries.
“There is always a chance he could still be alive, but that seems unlikely,” said Associate Professor Mallett.
This image, created by US-based Parabon Nano Labs, shows what William Tyrrell might have looked like at age 13, 10 years after he disappeared without a trace
Thursday marked 10 years since William Tyrrell disappeared from his foster grandmother’s home on the NSW mid north coast
An image like this might encourage someone who knows what happened to try to solve the mystery.
To mark the 10th anniversary of the toddler’s appearance on Thursday, New South Wales police issued a brief statement that made no commitment to make another attempt to find William, who is presumed dead.
“Detectives from the strike group are still preparing information for the judicial investigation,” the statement said.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns stressed that a $1 million reward is being offered to anyone who can provide information that could lead to William’s discovery.
Despite police being called within an hour of William’s disappearance and a decade-long investigation involving hundreds of suspects and dozens of searches, no trace has been found of the boy last seen in a Spider-Man suit.
In March 2019, the multi-million dollar search was investigated by a judicial inquiry.
However, the investigation has been suspended until the end of the year and no findings have yet been released.
Former Detective Gary Jubelin, who led the search for William for four years, is still haunted by the case.
Mr Jubelin’s case was withdrawn after he was found guilty of illegally filming a suspect in 2020.
He believes that a broader evaluation is needed of the way in which the research was conducted.
A computer-generated image of what William Tyrrell would have looked like at age five, two years after he disappeared
Despite millions of dollars and thousands of dollars of domestic police enquiries, William has not been seen since he disappeared from his foster mother’s home in Kendall, on the NSW mid-north coast, on September 12, 2014
“At the same time, there should be an early research stream set up to investigate the possibility of human intervention,” he told Channel 10.
“All this drama, all this controversy surrounding the investigation, that should all be put aside and everyone should be working in the same direction to find out what happened to William.”
Associate Professor Mallett said lessons learned from the way police handled the case were applied to the successful rescue of four-year-old Cleo Smith in Western Australia in 2019.
“We learned very quickly how to close the scene,” she said
“We have learned when to offer a reward and I think the Western Australia Police have made sure that the same mistakes are not made again.”
At a recent hearing at the NSW Coroner’s Court, it was confirmed that the final series of hearings for the inquest into Williams’ disappearance and the police investigation will take place in the weeks of November 4 to December 16.