William Tyrrell’s birth mother was told her son ‘had a black eye’ from an accident just before her final contact visit with the toddler five years ago, coronial documents said.
Two days after William went missing, his biological mother recalled in a police statement that she had been told her son had fallen and gotten a black eye after losing his balance clambering on top of his foster mum.
‘(The case worker) said that William was climbing on the female foster carer and he had lost his balance and fell and that was how he got a black eye.
‘Apparently it had happened on a Saturday but I don’t know how long it had happened before this visit.’
The biological mother could still see a ‘faint bruise’ near William’s eye when she saw him for the final time for two hours at the Chipmunk Centre at Macquarie Centre on August 21, 2014.
There is no suggestion whatsoever that the black eye was the result of anything but a typical accident of a toddler. Both William’s foster and biological parents have been ruled out as suspects in his disappearance.
William Tyrrell’s birth mother (pictured) was told her son ‘had a black eye’ from an accident just before her final contact visit with the toddler five years ago, coronial documents said
Both William’s foster and biological parents have been ruled out as suspects in his disappearance (pictured, biological father)
Two days after William went missing, the biological mother recalled in a police statement that she had been told her son had fallen and gotten a black eye after losing his balance clambering on top of his foster mum (pictured, William Tyrrell)
The biological mother could still see a ‘faint bruise’ near William’s eye when she saw him for the final time for two hours at the Chipmunk Centre at Macquarie Centre on August 21, 2014
William was ‘happy sitting on my lap and giving me a cuddle’ and was ‘more affectionate than usual’ during the visit, the birth mother said in her statement.
The police statement was released late on Friday by the coronial inquest investigating William’s September 14, 2014 disappearance.
In the statement, the birth mother recalled what she did in Sydney on the day her son disappeared, including a phone call she may have had with William’s grandmother and her trip to the shops to buy baby products.
‘I didn’t take him. I had nothing to do with it,’ she said.
Police statements made by William’s female foster carer were also released. Her statements revealed William presented to DOCS workers ‘in a neglected state’ after his birth parents ran away with him for ‘five to six weeks’ in 2012.
In the statement, the female foster carer said she and her husband were approved as carers by DOCS in 2011. They were, at some point, told William was going to be ‘surrendered and come into our care’.
‘We got a call and were told that the natural parents had taken off with William,’ the foster mother said.
‘He was found a short time later and DOCS removed him. William spent a night in hospital.
‘The DOCS social workers told us that William was presented in a neglected stated (sic) and he was checked medically.
‘We got William the next day.’
The female foster carer recalled how William was crawling around pretending to be a tiger and roaring in her mother’s backyard in Kendall, on the morning of September 12, 2014, when he vanished.
‘He walked around the side of the house. I told him to make sure he stays close on the grass.
William was ‘happy sitting on my lap and giving me a cuddle’ and was ‘more affectionate than usual’ during the visit, the birth mother said in her statement
In the statement, the birth mother recalled what she did in Sydney on the day her son disappeared, including a phone call she may have had with William’s grandmother and her trip to the shops to buy baby products Pictured: Kendall, the town where William was last seen
‘I heard “Roar”. It sounded really close and loud like he was just around the corner.
‘Mum and I laughed and we spoke… after a couple of minutes I thought “oh he is quiet”.
‘Mum said the same thing. William is (quiet) usually when he is sick.
‘He wasn’t sick.
‘I told Mum that I would go and check. I walked around the corner, nothing. I could not see him.
‘I stood there for a second. I looked and couldn’t see him at all …
‘I walked down the bottom around the trees, at the bottom of the block. I walked back up the other side of the house.
‘I was calling out to William. William did not answer’.
The inquest continues in August.
Timeline of William Tyrrell’s disappearance
Still missing: William Tyrrell vanished from his foster grandmother’s home three-and-a-half years ago
2014
September 12 – Dressed in a Spiderman outfit, three-year-old William Tyrrell goes missing from the garden while visiting members of his foster family in Kendall, about 40 kilometres south of Port Macquarie.
September 21 – Police stop searching for the missing boy after scouring surrounding bushland and neighbouring houses.
2015
January 20 – Police search the home and business of a washing machine repairman, who had been due to carry out repairs at the Kendall house at the time the three-year-old went missing.
Detectives take items for testing including a mattress, computer and vehicles. They drain his septic tank.
January 23 – The washing machine repairman publicly denies any involvement in William’s disappearance and says he and his wife are on the verge of a breakdown due to the public attention.
February 19 – Homicide detectives take over the case and say it’s likely William was abducted.
March 2 – Police fruitlessly search an area of 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.
April 17 – Police say the boy may have been a victim of a pedophile ring.
September 6 – The Nine Network’s 60 Minutes airs a special report into the case, revealing two suspicious cars were parked on the street the morning William went missing.
September 12 – ‘Where’s William’ week is launched one year after he disappeared.
2016
September 12 – A $1million 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 announces it will move the search to an 800sqm block of bushland just 4km from where William was last seen alive.
June 5 – The latest search ends with Detective Chief Inspector Gary Jubelin saying the case could soon go to a coroner.
August – Investigation leader Detective Chief Inspector Gary Jubelin and a sergeant get into a fight in a disagreement during a briefing.
September 13 – Police reveal they found a burned out car wreck belonging to a former person of interest.
December 19 – Coroners say William could still be alive and the inquest will determine if he died or not.
2019
February – DCI Jubelin is removed from the investigation amid a misconduct probe.
March 25 – The inquest into William Tyrrell’s disappearance begins.