Police have found three separate items of interest in the drenched soil they’re searching through in the hunt for missing William Tyrrell.
The search entered its eighth day on Monday, with a new team of detectives arriving to relieve exhausted officers who kicked off the new search last week.
Despite an overnight deluge and persistent rain, a team of 30 officers arrived about 8.30am to sift through the topsoil at the dig site just 700m from William’s foster grandmother’s home in Kendall on the NSW mid north coast, where he was last seen in September 2014.
Police and Forensic Officers have unearthed three items of evidence in the William Tyrrell case
Torrential, non-stop overnight rain soaked the search area. Police covered as much of the area with black plastic to aid searchers digging on Monday
The dig was slow moving and tedious as detectives batted grim weather conditions, but three more items of note were found in the soil by late morning.
Evidence markers ‘H’, ‘I’ and ‘J’ were placed at Area 1 of the three-pronged search, marking the eighth, ninth and tenth items taken for further forensic testing.
Daily Mail Australia understands the items were unusual and ‘not supposed to be there,’ but police are yet to determine whether they’re relevant to the search.
Officers have been digging up pieces of fabric and comparing them to a laminated picture of the Spiderman suit William was wearing when he disappeared.
Police continue their search in the William Tyrrell case, in ground sodden from torrential rain overnight
Shortly before the team broke for lunch on Monday, one officer dug up a piece of torn cloth covered in mud.
The frayed fabric appeared similar to a hessian bag police pulled from the same area on Saturday.
A police spokesman downplayed the find, noting it would be sent to forensic analysis along with eight other samples collected in the week since the renewed search began.
There is a $1 million NSW Government reward in the William Tyrrell case
Detectives are focused on three potential covert burial sites within 700m of William’s late foster grandmother’s home in Kendall on the NSW mid north coast.
But they’re prepared to scour up to one square kilometre of bushland near the property, certain that in doing so they’ll find William.
Given the meticulous nature of the search, such a large area could take months to thoroughly examine.
Search for William Tyrrell’s remains go on despite the terrible weather
The hunt for William Tyrrell has been going on for seven years but police believe they are closer than ever to finding the truth
There are concerns detectives could be washed out if the rain continues.
But police have vowed to work through the most uncomfortable of conditions so long as it is safe and productive to do so.
So far they’ve proven true to their word. As of midday, 40mm of rain has fallen in the region and the wet weather is expected to last through the week.
The rain subsided early Monday morning but picked up again by the time detectives arrived at the site about 8.20am, and a severe weather warning remains in place for the NSW mid north coast.
Members of the Public Order and Riot Squad were among the first to arrive, brushing water off tarps that’d been erected to maintain the dig sites while kitted out in fluorescent raincoats.
Tarps were brought out to cover the ground and protect the work already done
The search has been meticulous, including cadaver dogs being brought in
Police working on fresh leads began a new search of bushland close to the house from which William disappeared back in 2014.
As part of the renewed search for William’s remains – on the presumption he was dead – the boy’s foster mother was named as a person of interest in the investigation.
The isolated stretch of road is quiet save for the never ending scraping and thumping of rakes hitting the soggy ground as detectives scour every inch of the dirt for clues.
The police carefully search for clues in the disappearance of toddle William Tyrrell
Under the cover of the gazebos, the officers stand shoulder to shoulder painstakingly sifting through the earth beneath them.
Occasionally, one person in the pack finds something unusual. An odd piece of cloth, something that doesn’t look like it belongs, and the entire team stops scraping in unison. They wait as the item is investigated. A report is written and within a minute, the team is back at work.
Items that are found are bagged and sent for forensic testing, which will determine whether they’re relevant to the search for William.
In total, 15 tonnes of soil has already been moved from the dig sites, but it’s too early to determine whether the search has yielded any significant results.
The search for clues to the disappearance of toddler William Tyrrell is continuing despite the bad weather
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