It was a quiet Friday morning, on a cul-de-sac opposite dense bush in a sleepy town on the NSW Mid North Coast.
A young boy was playing in the garden of the foster home with his sister.
And at one point, his foster mother said, during a game of “daddy tiger,” he snuck around the corner and disappeared, never to be seen again.
Thursday marks 10 years since one of the country’s greatest mysteries disappeared: William Tyrrell.
William should be 13 years old and going to high school this year.
But what happened to the boy in the Spider-Man suit ten years later is still a mystery.
There is hope that a long-delayed investigation will provide answers for his loved ones, but it is a question that may never be solved.
12 SEPTEMBER 2014
Thursday marks 10 years since one of the country’s most enduring mysteries: the disappearance of William Tyrrell.
On the afternoon of September 11, 2014, William, then three years old, and his family drove four hours from Sydney to visit his foster mother in Kendall.
The next morning, the foster mother sat outside and watched William and his sister play a game similar to hide and seek.
Sometime around 10:30 a.m., he ducked around a corner and was never seen again, the foster mother previously said.
At the time she didn’t think much of it, but after not hearing him for a few minutes, she realized something was wrong.
“I’m speechless, I’m walking around the place thinking, where is he? Why can’t I see him?” the foster mother previously said on the Where’s William Tyrrell podcast.
‘And I’m screaming, ‘William, where are you? You need to talk to Mommy, 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 estimated that he had not been out of her sight for five minutes.
WHERE IS WILLIAM?
At 10:56, his foster mother called 911 to report him missing. Less than 10 minutes later, the police arrived.
“My son is missing, he is three and a half,” the foster mother said during the phone call, which was previously played during a criminal investigation.
The family and neighbors were frantically searching
Williams’ foster father had just returned home after driving into town to find a better Internet connection while dialing into a work conference call.
A large-scale search was launched in nearby homes and wooded areas.
Police, SES staff, the Rural Fire Service and local residents searched the area and local woodland.
Detectives from the Sexual Crimes Unit became involved in the investigation before the Homicide Unit came into power, forming Strike Force Rosann.
In 2021, police began investigating a theory that William had died in an accidental fall from a balcony and that the foster mother had disposed of the body. William’s foster mother and father have consistently denied the allegation
On the afternoon of September 11, 2014, William – then three years old – and his family made the four-hour drive from Sydney to visit his foster grandmother in Kendall
They were investigating reports that two cars had been seen on the quiet street that morning.
Washing machine repairman Bill Spedding at one point became the prime suspect in William’s disappearance, despite the fact that he consistently denied having anything to do with his disappearance.
Police tried to prosecute him for an unrelated historical sexual abuse, but he was later acquitted.
He successfully sued the state of New South Wales for malicious prosecution and was awarded $1.8 million in damages and was cleared of any involvement in Williams’ case.
The police have received thousands of reports over the past ten years.
Despite 10 years of searching, the mystery surrounding William still lingers in the community of Kendall and his family.
In March 2019, an investigation into his disappearance was launched to determine whether he had been abducted by a predator.
THE SEARCH FOR ANSWERS
In 2021, police began investigating the theory that William had died in an accidental fall from a balcony and that the foster mother had disposed of the body.
Williams’ foster mother and father have consistently denied the allegations and their knowledge of Williams’ disappearance.
And, the local court has previously heard, when asked about the theory at a Crime Commission hearing, she said: ‘I didn’t do that, I didn’t do that.’
In late 2021, police began a new search for Kendall, thoroughly searching the garden beneath the balcony of the house previously occupied by Williams’ foster grandmother.
Deputy State Coroner Harriet Grahame was due to announce her findings on the investigation in June 2021, but this was postponed.
New South Wales police have sent a submission to the Director of Public Prosecutions asking whether the foster mother could be charged with disturbing a corpse and perverting the course of justice.
William Spedding (left) successfully sued the state for malicious prosecution
Police searched Williams’ foster grandmother’s former home in 2021
Williams’ foster parents continue to deny any wrongdoing and the foster mother has not been charged.
The foster parents’ attorney, Rylie Hahn, called on police to release evidence last September.
“William’s foster mother continues to maintain that she had nothing to do with his disappearance … and is asking police to continue their search for William and what happened to him,” Hahn said.
Williams’ foster mother was acquitted in 2022 of lying to the NSW Crime Commission.
Williams’ foster father was also acquitted of five charges of lying to the NSW Crime Commission in November last year.
The local court had previously heard that when they were summoned to appear before the Crime Commission, an officer told them: “We know why, we know how. We know where he is.”
The investigation is expected to resume later this year with a new series of hearings.
At a hearing at the New South Wales Coroner’s Court last month, Ms Grahame confirmed the dates for the latest round of hearings, in the weeks of November 4 to December 16.