Police are concluding their concentrated search for William Tyrrell in the leech-infested vicinity of Batar Creek.
While no evidence was discovered at the location of interest near Port Macquarie, New South Wales, detectives have reportedly uncovered information that will help them in their investigation.
Police say there is someone who knows why they are searching in that specific area -and insist that one of the 833 people living in the town of Kendall, where William disappeared, knows what happened to the boy.
Forensic investigators, cadaver dogs and volunteers carried out major searches in areas surrounding the town of Kendall, NSW, this week – the week of William’s seventh birthday.
Crews protected themselves with waders as they marched through the swamp, bushland and undergrowth four kilometres southwest of the small town.
One of the 833 people that live in the town William Tyrrell (pictured) disappeared from in 2014 knows what happened to the three-year-old, police suspect
Forensic investigators, cadaver dogs and volunteers have carried out major searches in areas surrounding the town of Kendall, NSW, this week – the week of his birthday
Crews protected themselves with waders as they marched their way through the swamp, bushland and undergrowth four kilometres south west of the small town
An 800sq m patch of wet land was honed in on in Batar Creek while Strike Force Rosann detectives followed up intelligence on a ‘high risk’ person of interest.
The site, on the corner of Batar Creek Road and Cedar Loggers Lane, would have been too far for William to have walked from his grandma’s house on his own, detectives believe, but they say someone could have taken him there.
‘Someone who knows who is responsible is connected to the Kendall area,’ a police source said, as reported by The Daily Telegraph.
The search sporadically halted throughout Thursday as detectives and cadaver dogs took a closer look at areas of interest within the muddy bushland.
Wet areas in an 800sq m patch was honed in on in Batar Creek while Strike Force Rosann detectives followed up intelligence on a ‘high risk’ person of interest
A site on the corner of Batar Creek Road and Cedar Loggers Lane would have been to far for William to have walked from his grandma’s house on his own, detectives believe
Items were pulled from the site and collected as evidence, but they were not believed to have been directly linked to William’s disappearance.
Cedar Loggers Lane resident Clive Wilmott said that anyone who wanted to take anything into the dense wet bushland would have needed to be familiar with the area.
‘It’s fairly dense rugged bushland. If you were looking to take something in there you would have had to know what the area was like,’ he said.
Community members used the search as an opportunity to offer detectives their theories on what happened to William – adding to the 15,000 pieces of intelligence already received.
On Thursday the search sporadically halted as detectives and cadaver dogs took a closer look at areas of interest within the muddy bushland
Items were pulled from the site and collected as evidence, but they were not believed to have been directly linked to William’s disappearance
Cedar Loggers Lane resident Clive Wilmott said anyone that wanted to take anything into the dense wet bushland would have needed to be familiar with the area
Earlier this week detectives identified five suspects and a ‘person of interest’ in the disappearance of the toddler.
The development came as a coronial inquest into William’s disappearance was revealed to be commencing later this year.
Police are now frantically working to prepare their brief of evidence, nearly four years on from when William vanished.
Four ‘high priority’ suspects and one ‘person of interest’ are being closely examined as part of the police investigation, The Australian reported.
Police comb bushland at Batar Creek in NSW on Wednesday, looking for evidence in the William Tyrrell case
The high-profile ‘person of interest’ has long been on the radar of detectives and previously provided police with DNA swabs and maintains he was not involved in William’s disappearance.
The man had been at the home William went missing from just days before he vanished to provide a quote to repair a washing machine.
He was back at the home a week later to carry-out the repair.
Detective Chief Inspector Gary Jubelin (pictured), who has been leading the hunt for William Tyrrell for nearly four years, revealed how new information led investigators to one discrete search area
William was playing in the yard of his foster grandmother’s home on Benaroon Drive in Kendall, on the NSW mid-north coast, when he went missing in September 2014.
On Wednesday, the police chief who’s been leading the hunt for William revealed how new information led investigators to one discrete area – as the search party closes in on an 800-sq metre block of bushland.
Officers from Strike Force Rosann announced that they would concentrate on a small zone outside the established forensic search area near Port Macquarie.
William (pictured) was playing in the yard of his foster grandmother’s home when he went missing
Police plan to comb the bushland around Cedar Loggers Lane and Batar Creek Road in Batar Creek – just four kilometres from where the missing toddler was last seen alive.
It’s a zone that Detective Chief Inspector Gary Jubelin admits is ‘very specific’ and it relates to a ‘high risk’ individual who lives nearby.
‘The reason why we’re searching this very specific area of bushland is the result of information we’ve uncovered during the course of the investigation,’ Det Insp Jubelin said on Wednesday.
‘We’re looking for any information, any exhibits… anything that’s foreign to the area and anything that links to William’s disappearance.’
Det Insp Jubelin revealed that the change of location was based on a ‘line of inquiry’ police are pursuing, and the information leading to it was uncovered prior to the forensic search commencing two-and-a-half weeks ago.
Chief Inspector Gary Jubelin (pictured) on Wednesday revealed how new information led investigators to one discrete area
Det Insp Jubelin revealed that the change of location was based on a ‘line of inquiry’ police are pursuing
‘This information we’ve had for quite some time,’ he said.
‘There’s operational reasons and operational considerations (as to why it took us this long to come and search here) – we’ve determined now is the best time to search.’
Det Insp Jubelin estimated that the investigation of the area around Cedar Loggers Lane and Batar Creek Road would take approximately two days.
Emergency services volunteers will also be involved in the search operation, which comes one day after what would have been the missing boy’s seventh birthday.
The new search area is a mere six-minute drive from where William vanished.
A month-long search forensic search for William is into its third week, as volunteers continue to help the Strike Force Rosann team look near where he went missing.
Detective Chief Inspector Gary Jubelin said investigators’ thoughts were with William’s family.
‘While we are obviously thinking of William and his loved ones every day, today is particularly tough as we know it’s another milestone without answers,’ he told the Illawarra Mercury on Tuesday.
‘As such, our focus remains on providing his family with answers, and our investigation, along with the search of bushland at Kendall, is continuing today.’
Volunteers are helping police by clearing dense scrub in sections of the search area.
The new search has a forensic focus and is focused on an area of three square kilometres.
Det Insp Jubelin estimated that the investigation of the area around Cedar Loggers Lane and Batar Creek Road would take approximately two days
Volunteers are helping police by clearing dense scrub in sections of the search area
The purpose of the evidence they are looking to gather is to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that William’s disappearance was due to human intervention and not ‘misadventure’.
Det Insp Jubelin said he hoped the fresh search would ‘rattle some cages’ and put pressure on those who he believes are withholding valuable information.
‘I strongly believe that there are people out there who have information on this,’ he told reporters.
‘I want to make a point to those people that if you do have information concerning what happened to William, you are committing an offence if you do not come forward.’
Det Insp Jubelin further declared that he wants that person or persons ‘to feel that everyone’s looking at them… let’s see where that takes us.’
The purpose of the evidence they are looking to gather is to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that William’s disappearance was due to human intervention and not ‘misadventure’
Fifty officers are helping with the bush search surrounding the house where William was last seen.
The property was owned by his grandmother, and he was visiting with his foster family on the day he went missing.
Det Insp Jubelin said police had not given up on the investigation.
‘We are committed to finding out what happened to William. We are mindful it has been three-and-a-half years since William disappeared and we still have not solved this matter.’
If the case can’t be solved from a criminal perspective then it will go to an inquest.
Among the lines of inquiry are allegations of a paedophile ring, operating from the mid-north coast of New South Wales.
A $1million reward for William’s recovery still stands.
TIMELINE OF THE DISAPPEARANCE OF WILLIAM TYRRELL
Pictured: William Tyrrell, 3, was wearing this Spiderman costume when he vanished
2014
* SEPTEMBER 12 – Dressed in a Spiderman outfit, three-year-old William Tyrrell goes missing from the front yard of his foster grandmother’s home in Kendall, 40km south of Port Macquarie.
* SEPTEMBER 21 – Police stop searching for the missing boy after scouring surrounding bushland and neighbouring houses.
2015
* FEBRUARY 19 – Homicide detectives take over the case and say it’s likely William was abducted.
* MARCH 2 – Police search bushland near Bonny Hills for three days after a tip-off.
* APRIL 17 – William’s foster parents speak publicly for the first time in an emotional video released through police which does not identify them.
* APRIL17 – Police say the boy may have been a victim of a pedophile ring.
* SEPTEMBER 12 – ‘Where’s William’ week is launched one year after he disappeared.
2016
* SEPTEMBER 12 – A $1 million reward is offered for information leading to William’s return.
2017
* AUGUST 24 – William’s foster child status is revealed after a court ruling.
2018
* JUNE 12 – NSW Police announce the start of a four-week forensic search of bushland in Kendall conducted by Strike Force Rosann.
* JUNE 14 – William’s grandmother scolds police who have failed to find the young boy after four years, and claims their latest search is ‘just for show’.
* JUNE 26 – the forensic search continues on what would have been William’s seventh birthday.
* JUNE 27 – Strike Force Rosann announce that they are moving the search to an 800sqm block of bushland just four kilometres from where William was last seen alive.
Source: AAP