Full Transcript for Case 322: William Tyrrell (Part 1)

native trees. A veranda wrapped around the length 77 00:04:49.519 --> 00:04:52.680 of the house with a five meter high balcony, providing 78 00:04:52.720 --> 00:04:56.199 the perfect spot to take in the scenic easterly views. 79 00:04:58.279 --> 00:05:02.120 Senior Constable Rowley found William Tyrrel's mother, Angela, in a 80 00:05:02.160 --> 00:05:05.120 clear state of distress, walking down the middle of the 81 00:05:05.160 --> 00:05:10.120 street in tears. Her husband Peter was frantically dashing around, 82 00:05:10.399 --> 00:05:15.720 calling William's name and to checking the surrounding properties. The 83 00:05:15.720 --> 00:05:18.639 family of four had only arrived in Kendall at around 84 00:05:18.800 --> 00:05:22.560 nine the previous evening after driving the roughly four hour 85 00:05:22.680 --> 00:05:27.639 journey from their home in Sydney's Northern Beaches. Angela's father 86 00:05:27.759 --> 00:05:31.040 had recently passed away, and the purpose of the visit 87 00:05:31.240 --> 00:05:35.560 was to help her mother Mary organize her house for sale. 88 00:05:35.720 --> 00:05:39.240 The substantial, three bedroom, two bathroom house on a one 89 00:05:39.240 --> 00:05:42.360 point two acre block was simply too big for the 90 00:05:42.439 --> 00:05:47.839 elderly woman to look after on her own. According to Angela, 91 00:05:48.120 --> 00:05:52.319 that morning of Friday, September twelve, twenty fourteen, the two 92 00:05:52.399 --> 00:05:56.879 Tyrrell children had woken up in good spirits. William and 93 00:05:56.959 --> 00:06:00.279 his four year old sister Lindsey were excited to at 94 00:06:00.279 --> 00:06:04.160 their grandmother's house, a place they had visited several times before. 95 00:06:05.920 --> 00:06:09.040 Their father, Peter, had to make a video call for work, 96 00:06:09.279 --> 00:06:13.360 but the internet reception in Kendle was notoriously lousy, so 97 00:06:13.399 --> 00:06:16.040 he left the house at around eight thirty am to 98 00:06:16.120 --> 00:06:19.279 make the call from the nearby town of Lakewood instead. 99 00:06:20.920 --> 00:06:24.319 While Peter was gone, William and Lindsay rode their bikes 100 00:06:24.360 --> 00:06:29.920 around Mary's driveway and explored the yard. Afterwards, William played 101 00:06:29.920 --> 00:06:33.399 a game with his mother called Mummy Monster, which involved 102 00:06:33.439 --> 00:06:38.199 Angela chasing her son around the garden. When they were done, 103 00:06:38.360 --> 00:06:41.399 they climbed the steep slope back up to the house. 104 00:06:43.120 --> 00:06:46.160 The grass was covered in loose twigs and leaves, and 105 00:06:46.279 --> 00:06:50.439 they kept slipping over. One of the slips resulted in 106 00:06:50.480 --> 00:06:53.920 Angela injuring her hand, so they went inside to tent 107 00:06:54.120 --> 00:06:59.360 to the wound. Lindsay had heard them playing Mummy Monster 108 00:06:59.560 --> 00:07:02.079 and to join in the game, so they went back 109

00:07:02.120 --> 00:07:06.439 outside for a while. After the kids grew bored of that, 110 00:07:06.839 --> 00:07:09.759 William and Lindsey decided to make some cards to bring 111 00:07:09.800 --> 00:07:12.160 to their grandfather's grave when they visited. 112 00:07:12.319 --> 00:07:13.120 Later that day. 113 00:07:14.560 --> 00:07:17.279 Angela set them up with some art supplies on the 114 00:07:17.319 --> 00:07:18.199 back deck that. 115 00:07:18.199 --> 00:07:19.519 Overlooked the rear lawn. 116 00:07:21.079 --> 00:07:24.680 Shortly after nine thirty am, she grabbed her digital camera 117 00:07:24.839 --> 00:07:30.519 and snapped some photos of them. William was thrilled that 118 00:07:30.600 --> 00:07:33.560 he'd been allowed to wear his new favorite outfit, a 119 00:07:33.639 --> 00:07:36.879 two piece blue and red Spider Man costume that his 120 00:07:36.959 --> 00:07:39.959 parents had bought him on a recent family holiday to Bali. 121 00:07:41.319 --> 00:07:44.120 He put a Spider Man T shirt underneath the polyester 122 00:07:44.240 --> 00:07:46.279 suit so he could be head to toe in his 123 00:07:46.399 --> 00:07:51.759 favorite superhero get up. At nine thirty seven am, Angela 124 00:07:51.800 --> 00:07:55.040 stood above William and pointed the lens towards him as 125 00:07:55.079 --> 00:07:57.879 he crouched on the deck pretending to be a tiger. 126 00:07:59.399 --> 00:08:02.439 The lit looked up at her, his eyes cast to 127 00:08:02.519 --> 00:08:05.160 the sky and mouth agape as he let out a 128 00:08:05.240 --> 00:08:10.439 loud raw. It wasn't long before William lost interest in 129 00:08:10.480 --> 00:08:13.279 the craft session and began a new game he called 130 00:08:13.519 --> 00:08:18.680 Daddy Tiger. This involved him crawling around and launching himself 131 00:08:18.680 --> 00:08:21.439 off the deck as he roared and clawed his hands 132 00:08:21.439 --> 00:08:25.279 in the air. He asked Lindsey to join in, but 133 00:08:25.439 --> 00:08:29.800 she was too engrossed in the card making process. William 134 00:08:29.920 --> 00:08:33.360 continued the game alone, ducking around the site of the 135 00:08:33.399 --> 00:08:37.000 house out of sight for a moment before reappearing with 136 00:08:37.080 --> 00:08:42.720 a loud raw. Just before ten am, Angela said that 137 00:08:42.879 --> 00:08:45.279 she and her mother were sitting and watching the kids 138 00:08:45.320 --> 00:08:49.799 over a cup of tea. Mary remarked how loud William 139 00:08:49.919 --> 00:08:53.159 was being, and Angela explained that's just how he was 140 00:08:53.639 --> 00:08:58.200 always full of energy. The two women looked on as 141 00:08:58.200 --> 00:09:04.200 William darted around the guard jumping and roaring enthusiastically. He 142 00:09:04.240 --> 00:09:07.440 then ran around the northwest corner of the house and 143 00:09:07.519 --> 00:09:11.399 out of sight, the sound of his roar still clearly audible. 144 00:09:13.720 --> 00:09:18.159 After a

few minutes, Angela noticed that had gone unusually quiet. 145 00:09:19.600 --> 00:09:22.279 She got up and walked around the side of the house, 146 00:09:22.639 --> 00:09:28.000 but she couldn't see William anywhere. Angela called out William's name, 147 00:09:28.440 --> 00:09:33.080 saying where are you? I can't see you. There was 148 00:09:33.120 --> 00:09:38.120 no reply. She looked for splashes of his red spider 149 00:09:38.120 --> 00:09:42.039 man costume against the vibrant green foliage, noting it was 150 00:09:42.080 --> 00:09:45.320 suddenly so quiet that even the bird seemed to have 151 00:09:45.360 --> 00:09:51.440 stopped chirping. Angela told Mary that she couldn't see William anywhere, 152 00:09:52.559 --> 00:09:55.120 thinking he was hiding and playing a trick on them. 153 00:09:55.559 --> 00:10:01.240 Mary remarked, oh, the little devil. Angela was starting to 154 00:10:01.240 --> 00:10:05.279 get worried. She went around the eastern side of the 155 00:10:05.360 --> 00:10:08.759 house and looked in the ferns that sat underneath the balcony, 156 00:10:09.080 --> 00:10:13.720 all the while calling William's name. When he didn't appear, 157 00:10:14.200 --> 00:10:19.600 she became frantic. Mary's property had no fance or other 158 00:10:19.679 --> 00:10:24.600 barrier to prevent William from wandering beyond its boundary. Angela 159 00:10:24.720 --> 00:10:27.559 ran to the street, checking each side of the yard, 160 00:10:27.919 --> 00:10:32.600 but she still couldn't see or hear William. She ran 161 00:10:32.720 --> 00:10:36.519 into her mother's house with Mary following, checking each room 162 00:10:36.600 --> 00:10:40.679 and opening cupboards to see if he was hiding inside. 163 00:10:41.320 --> 00:10:44.919 Angela tried to remain calm so that William wouldn't panic, 164 00:10:45.080 --> 00:10:51.200 thinking he was in trouble. Keeping her composure, she called William, 165 00:10:51.440 --> 00:10:53.840 you have to come out. You have to talk to me. 166 00:10:54.679 --> 00:10:59.360 No more hiding, William, I can't see you. There was 167 00:10:59.399 --> 00:11:07.799 no reply. While all this was happening, Angela's husband, Peter, 168 00:11:08.080 --> 00:11:11.320 had been at the Lakewood shopping precinct, making his work 169 00:11:11.399 --> 00:11:16.519 calls from inside his brand new land Rover Discovery. After 170 00:11:16.559 --> 00:11:20.000 stopping to grab a newspaper, he headed straight back to Candle. 171 00:11:21.440 --> 00:11:24.799 Peter told the police that at around ten thirty am, 172 00:11:24.879 --> 00:11:28.279 as he neared Benarun Drive, he'd sent Angela a voice 173 00:11:28.320 --> 00:11:31.200 to text message suggesting it was a good time to 174 00:11:31.240 --> 00:11:34.039 send the kids outside. 175 00:11:34.120 --> 00:11:35.080 William had a. 176 00:11:35.000 --> 00:11:38.840 Deep fascination with cars, trucks, and planes, which was an 177 00:11:38.879 --> 00:11:43.919 interest Peter encouraged. The Tyrrell children always got a thrill 178 00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:46.840 out of watching their father arrive home and running out 179 00:11:46.879 --> 00:11:50.559 to greet him. It was a moment Peter looked forward 180 00:11:50.600 --> 00:11:55.360 to every day. But as he pulled up to his 181 00:11:55.480 --> 00:11:58.559 mother in law's house, it wasn't his children who came 182 00:11:58.600 --> 00:12:03.879 out to greet him. His wife, Angela looked panic stricken. 183 00:12:05.000 --> 00:12:08.080 She gestured urgently for Peter to roll down his window. 184 00:12:09.519 --> 00:12:15.519 Have you got William, she asked. Peter frowned, confused, of 185 00:12:15.600 --> 00:12:20.480 course not, he said, why would you think that? Frantically, 186 00:12:20.679 --> 00:12:27.159 Angela replied, because he's missing. Peter didn't ask for any 187 00:12:27.200 --> 00:12:31.080 more information. He lapped out of his car and took off, running, 188 00:12:31.320 --> 00:12:35.840 shouting out William's name. Neighbors heard the commotion going on 189 00:12:35.919 --> 00:12:38.600 outside and came out to see what was going on. 190 00:12:39.879 --> 00:12:41.879 I am looking for a little boy in a spider 191 00:12:41.879 --> 00:12:45.799 Man suit. Angela told them, have you seen him? His 192 00:12:45.960 --> 00:12:51.320 name is William. The neighbors searched their yards, checked their 193 00:12:51.320 --> 00:12:54.000 swimming pools, and any other places that might be of 194 00:12:54.039 --> 00:12:58.120 interest to a young boy, such as cubbyhouses and play equipment. 195 00:12:59.519 --> 00:13:03.679 When Paula Senior Constable Christopher Rowley arrived at Benarun Drive, 196 00:13:03.919 --> 00:13:08.000 he conducted a thorough search of Mary's house. He was 197 00:13:08.039 --> 00:13:12.559 soon joined by additional officers who arrived at the scene. 198 00:13:12.720 --> 00:13:16.320 They checked cupboards and under furniture, going so far as 199 00:13:16.360 --> 00:13:20.080 to remove cushions from the couch and pitches from the walls. 200 00:13:22.360 --> 00:13:27.039 Benarun Drive is a secluded, quiet street that backs onto scrubland. 201 00:13:27.919 --> 00:13:31.240 It consists of twenty one houses, each of which is 202 00:13:31.320 --> 00:13:34.679 situated on a large block and set back from the road. 203 00:13:36.080 --> 00:13:37.039 At the end of. 204 00:13:36.960 --> 00:13:40.440 The no through road is a rugged dirt track surrounded 205 00:13:40.440 --> 00:13:44.159 by dense bush that eventually leads to the Kendall Cemetery. 206 00:13:45.519 --> 00:13:48.320 There is no foot traffic and no reason to be 207 00:13:48.360 --> 00:13:51.120 in the area unless you live there or are visiting 208 00:13:51.200 --> 00:13:56.240 one of the residents. Angela told the police she had 209 00:13:56.240 --> 00:13:59.679 only seen one unfamiliar car in the area, and that 210 00:13:59.799 --> 00:14:03.000 had earlier on when the two Tyrrell children had been 211

00:14:03.080 --> 00:14:07.399 riding their bikes outside. It was a dark green or 212 00:14:07.480 --> 00:14:11.000 gray sedan that had briefly pulled into a neighbor's driveway 213 00:14:11.200 --> 00:14:16.759 before immediately reversing out and driving away. A couple who 214 00:14:16.799 --> 00:14:20.519 lived nearby heard the car too, but just assumed it 215 00:14:20.600 --> 00:14:26.759 was the local postal worker. It therefore seemed highly unlikely 216 00:14:26.840 --> 00:14:30.639 to the police that William had been abducted, especially given 217 00:14:30.679 --> 00:14:33.240 the very short amount of time between when his mother 218 00:14:33.320 --> 00:14:37.559 last heard him and when he went missing. They thought 219 00:14:37.600 --> 00:14:40.720 the most likely explanation was that he had wandered off 220 00:14:40.759 --> 00:14:45.159 and gotten lost in the bush. The rugged area was 221 00:14:45.279 --> 00:14:50.960 thick with weeds, reedy grass, and spiky lantana bushes. There 222 00:14:50.960 --> 00:14:56.639 were also numerous waterways, cliffs, abandoned mine shafts, and wild animals, 223 00:14:57.080 --> 00:15:00.679 creating plenty of hazards to explain why the young hadn't 224 00:15:00.720 --> 00:15:07.440 yet been found, But Peter and Angela were dubious. Although 225 00:15:07.480 --> 00:15:11.039 William was adventurous and had a mischievous sight, they said 226 00:15:11.080 --> 00:15:15.840 he was also clingy and reserved. While he might hide 227 00:15:15.919 --> 00:15:18.519 and jump out for fun. He was the kind of 228 00:15:18.639 --> 00:15:21.519 kid who wouldn't try to cross the street by himself, 229 00:15:21.840 --> 00:15:24.000 and it would be very out of character for him 230 00:15:24.039 --> 00:15:27.840 to just wander off on his own. They said he 231 00:15:27.919 --> 00:15:31.440 had a clear understanding of boundaries and would deem rocky 232 00:15:31.519 --> 00:15:36.840 slopes and rugged terrain too dangerous to scale alone. They 233 00:15:36.879 --> 00:15:40.320 also said he would never blindly go off with the stranger. 234 00:15:41.440 --> 00:15:45.279 He didn't warm to people immediately, but rather sat back 235 00:15:45.360 --> 00:15:51.200 and assessed them first. A benaruin Drive resident created a 236 00:15:51.200 --> 00:15:55.360 Facebook post online calling for volunteers to assist in the search. 237 00:15:56.480 --> 00:16:00.759 Within minutes, locals of all ages and demographics swarmed to 238 00:16:00.879 --> 00:16:04.840 the area, traversing through the surrounding scrub and driving the 239 00:16:04.919 --> 00:16:10.039 neighboring streets shouting William's name. A three year old girl 240 00:16:10.159 --> 00:16:14.639 sat in her pram calling out, you're not in trouble, William, 241 00:16:15.120 --> 00:16:22.320 you can come out now. The operation was overseen by 242 00:16:22.399 --> 00:16:27.960 experienced land search and rescue coordinators. Line searchers were conducted 243 00:16:27.960 --> 00:16:31.720 in the surrounding bush land, while horses and motorbikes traversed 244 00:16:31.799 --> 00:16:37.840 the dance scrub, and police helicopters searched overhead. Mary's house 245 00:16:37.960 --> 00:16:42.000 was thoroughly checked multiple times, as were other houses along 246 00:16:42.080 --> 00:16:46.840 Benaroon Drive. Different personnel were brought in to search the 247 00:16:46.919 --> 00:16:49.919 homes in case a fresh set of eyes noticed something 248 00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:55.000 that others had missed. Shads, roof spaces, wall cavities, and 249 00:16:55.080 --> 00:17:00.960 cupboards were meticulously checked. Sniffer dogs also battled the rugged terrain, 250 00:17:01.200 --> 00:17:04.279 but were unable to detect any cent of William Tyrrel 251 00:17:04.440 --> 00:17:10.640 beyond Mary's garden. The primary concern for the search party 252 00:17:10.960 --> 00:17:13.839 was that the young boy might be injured or unconscious, 253 00:17:14.000 --> 00:17:18.519 preventing him from coming forward to rescuers. There was also 254 00:17:18.599 --> 00:17:22.480 a serious fear he had drowned, prompting police divers and 255 00:17:22.640 --> 00:17:26.559 the Rural Fire Service to search and to drain numerous dams, 256 00:17:26.680 --> 00:17:31.880 storm drains and water tanks in the area. The day 257 00:17:32.039 --> 00:17:36.200 was mild at eighteen degrees celsius, but as nightfall approached, 258 00:17:36.400 --> 00:17:41.799 dark clouds gathered and the temperature dropped significantly. With no 259 00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:46.079 sign of William, concerns mounted that if he was still alive, 260 00:17:46.480 --> 00:17:52.279 he might succumb to the elements overnight. Untreated dehydration or 261 00:17:52.359 --> 00:17:58.920 hypothermia posed serious risks. William also suffered from asthma, which 262 00:17:59.000 --> 00:18:02.200 worsened in the cold conditions and could be triggered by 263 00:18:02.279 --> 00:18:06.279 stress or by the powdery pollen released by the surrounding 264 00:18:06.359 --> 00:18:13.279 Lantana bushes. The search continued overnight, with police calling for 265 00:18:13.400 --> 00:18:17.039 volunteers to register at the Candle showgrounds at seven the 266 00:18:17.119 --> 00:18:22.440 following morning, rain was expected and volunteers were asked to 267 00:18:22.440 --> 00:18:26.440 wear high visibility clothing suitable for wet weather and to 268 00:18:26.519 --> 00:18:31.640 bring plenty of water. The search was expanded beyond the 269 00:18:31.720 --> 00:18:35.400 scrub near Benarun Drive and into the nearby Kendle and 270 00:18:35.559 --> 00:18:41.599 Middle Brother State forests. No stone was left unturned, yet 271 00:18:41.960 --> 00:18:49.799 there was still no sign of William. By Sunday, September fourteenth, 272 00:18:50.119 --> 00:18:55.640 the two day search for William remained fruitless. However, Angela 273 00:18:55.720 --> 00:18:59.079 told the police that she might have seen something

significant 274 00:18:59.119 --> 00:19:02.519 on Benarun Drive the day her son vanished. After all, 275 00:19:03.920 --> 00:19:07.319 She said she'd completely forgotten about it at first, but 276 00:19:07.440 --> 00:19:09.920 the memory had come back to her while driving to 277 00:19:09.960 --> 00:19:15.000 pick up a relative from the airport. According to Angela, 278 00:19:15.200 --> 00:19:18.119 on the morning William went missing, she had looked out 279 00:19:18.119 --> 00:19:22.000 the window at around six forty and noticed two cars 280 00:19:22.079 --> 00:19:26.319 parked strangely on the street. They stuck out to her 281 00:19:26.440 --> 00:19:29.759 because both of their driver's side windows had been left open, 282 00:19:30.119 --> 00:19:34.200 which was something you wouldn't see in the city. Both 283 00:19:34.240 --> 00:19:37.880 of the cars were dirty, older models with tinted windows 284 00:19:37.920 --> 00:19:41.720 and no hub caps. One was a gun metal gray 285 00:19:41.799 --> 00:19:45.359 ser Dan possibly a Falcon or a Commodore, and the 286 00:19:45.440 --> 00:19:48.839 other an off white station wagon with a boxy back end, 287 00:19:49.359 --> 00:19:53.839 possibly a Camery. They were parked close to one another 288 00:19:53.960 --> 00:19:57.880 on the road between two properties, which Angela noted as 289 00:19:58.000 --> 00:20:01.759 odd given that any visitors to the area typically parked 290 00:20:01.799 --> 00:20:07.039 in the driveway of whichever home they were visiting. Angela 291 00:20:07.079 --> 00:20:10.359 hadn't mentioned any of these cars to her mother or husband. 292 00:20:11.559 --> 00:20:15.720 When she'd called emergency services to report William's disappearance, the 293 00:20:15.799 --> 00:20:18.920 operator had asked if she'd seen any suspicious vehicles in 294 00:20:18.960 --> 00:20:24.039 the area, and Angela had firmly answered no. No other 295 00:20:24.160 --> 00:20:28.000 residents of Benarun Drive recalled seeing the parked cars either, 296 00:20:28.480 --> 00:20:33.759 but it was a helpful bit of information for the police. 297 00:20:34.359 --> 00:20:38.480 While William's disappearance continued to make the news, Peter and 298 00:20:38.559 --> 00:20:41.839 Angela stayed away from the spotlight and didn't make any 299 00:20:41.880 --> 00:20:46.640 public appearances. As the days passed with no sign of 300 00:20:46.680 --> 00:20:50.480 the three year old, public conjecture started to grow about 301 00:20:50.559 --> 00:20:55.759 why the parents weren't talking. The speculation only escalated when 302 00:20:55.759 --> 00:20:58.920 a family friend made a national appeal for information on 303 00:20:59.000 --> 00:21:04.599 Peter and Angela's behalf. If they were genuinely concerned about William. 304 00:21:04.880 --> 00:21:08.000 The public wondered why they weren't doing everything in their 305 00:21:08.039 --> 00:21:12.599 power to keep their son's disappearance in the media. Some 306 00:21:12.720 --> 00:21:16.960 speculated that their lack of exposure meant they had something 307 00:21:17.039 --> 00:21:31.400 to hide. Case file will be back shortly. Thank you 308 00:21:31.480 --> 00:21:38.319 for supporting us by listening to this episode. Sponsors A 309 00:21:38.519 --> 00:21:40.079 Cast recommends. 310 00:21:41.079 --> 00:21:44.559 Hey, Nicky Burrn here from Nicky burn HQ. Join me 311 00:21:44.759 --> 00:21:47.759 every Thursday for exclusive chats with some of the biggest 312 00:21:47.839 --> 00:21:51.480 names in the entertainment world, pop legend like Gary Barlow, 313 00:21:51.640 --> 00:21:55.079 the Fabulous Katie Price, the iconic Michael Flatley, and my 314 00:21:55.160 --> 00:21:58.319 old Made from Westlife Brian McFadden. You won't want to 315 00:21:58.319 --> 00:22:01.839 miss the form, the stories and the behind the scenes scoops. 316 00:22:02.039 --> 00:22:05.160 So sir, It's Nicki Borne. HQ now drops every Thursday 317 00:22:05.480 --> 00:22:07.279 on all podcast platforms. 318 00:22:07.680 --> 00:22:11.200 A cast is home to the world's best podcasts, including 319 00:22:11.240 --> 00:22:14.400 Red Rooms, Catch Up with Louise McSharry, and the one 320 00:22:14.400 --> 00:22:15.920 You're listening to right now. 321 00:22:22.039 --> 00:22:25.839 Thank you for listening to this episode's ads. By supporting 322 00:22:25.880 --> 00:22:29.359 our sponsors, you support case File to continue to deliver 323 00:22:29.400 --> 00:22:40.759 our quality content. Peter and Angela had always wanted children 324 00:22:41.759 --> 00:22:44.680 unable to have any of their own, they decided to 325 00:22:44.759 --> 00:22:49.880 help those in need. In twenty eleven, the married couple 326 00:22:49.960 --> 00:22:54.119 applied to become foster parents. They were put on the 327 00:22:54.160 --> 00:22:57.119 books of what was then called the Department of Family 328 00:22:57.160 --> 00:23:02.279 and Community Services or FACTS. After successfully completing the mandatory 329 00:23:02.319 --> 00:23:08.160 foster care training classes and two short term assignments. As 330 00:23:08.160 --> 00:23:12.319 a successful couple from Sydney's affluent North Shore, Peter and 331 00:23:12.359 --> 00:23:16.599 Angela made attractive candidates when Lindsay Tyrrell was placed into 332 00:23:16.640 --> 00:23:21.640 the foster care system in twenty twelve. Lindsay was sent 333 00:23:21.720 --> 00:23:24.960 to live with Peter and Angela, followed shortly after by 334 00:23:25.000 --> 00:23:30.240 her eight month old brother William. According to those who 335 00:23:30.359 --> 00:23:34.119 knew Peter and Angela, the two were doting foster parents 336 00:23:34.160 --> 00:23:38.039 to the Tyrrell children. They gave them everything a kid 337 00:23:38.079 --> 00:23:41.680 could possibly want. A play room full of toys, regular 338 00:23:41.720 --> 00:23:46.640 trips to playgrounds and parks, family holidays, birthday parties, and 339 00:23:46.759 --> 00:23:52.359 most

importantly, a stable and comfortable home life. Peter and 340 00:23:52.440 --> 00:23:56.319 William had a particularly strong bond with Angela describing the 341 00:23:56.400 --> 00:24:01.799 two as absolutely adoring each other. As the children settled 342 00:24:01.839 --> 00:24:05.440 into their new home life, Peter and Angela transitioned from 343 00:24:05.519 --> 00:24:09.279 short term careers to long term careers, making them the 344 00:24:09.400 --> 00:24:13.440 legal guardians of the two Tyrrell siblings until they turned eighteen. 345 00:24:16.440 --> 00:24:20.039 The reality was when it came to William's disappearance, his 346 00:24:20.160 --> 00:24:23.200 status as a foster child made it difficult for Peter 347 00:24:23.279 --> 00:24:27.799 and Agela to front the media. For starters, they weren't 348 00:24:27.839 --> 00:24:33.440 illegally allowed to identify themselves as his careers. Police needed 349 00:24:33.480 --> 00:24:37.279 permission from the relevant government departments before they were allowed 350 00:24:37.319 --> 00:24:44.359 to divulge any details regarding William's family situation. Secondly, they 351 00:24:44.440 --> 00:24:49.279 wanted to protect Lindsay Tyrrell's identity. If news got out 352 00:24:49.359 --> 00:24:54.160 that William was a foster child, it outed Lindsey too. 353 00:24:54.480 --> 00:24:57.720 Based on advice from facts, Peter and Angela made the 354 00:24:57.799 --> 00:25:03.400 decision to remain anonymous. This would also protect the reputation 355 00:25:03.559 --> 00:25:06.039 of the department who had assigned to the children to 356 00:25:06.119 --> 00:25:12.279 their care. The true identities of William's foster parents, foster grandmother, 357 00:25:12.480 --> 00:25:16.720 and sister were banned from publication under court suppression orders. 358 00:25:17.920 --> 00:25:21.559 Any journalist or reporter who broke this rule was warned 359 00:25:21.680 --> 00:25:27.519 that they could face potential prosecution. Peter, Angela and Mary 360 00:25:27.640 --> 00:25:31.759 a pseudonym's case file has created for clarity, while Lindsay 361 00:25:31.920 --> 00:25:37.240 is the pseudonym created for her by the courts. The 362 00:25:37.319 --> 00:25:40.960 decision to withhold Peter and Angela's identities from the public 363 00:25:41.200 --> 00:25:46.720 ultimately muddied public opinion. With no face of parental grief 364 00:25:46.839 --> 00:25:50.759 and desperation for the Australian public to cling onto, the 365 00:25:50.880 --> 00:25:56.799 case sparked suspicion against the parents instead of compassion. But 366 00:25:57.000 --> 00:26:00.000 Peter and Angela weren't the only ones feeling the wars 367 00:26:00.279 --> 00:26:08.240 of this decision. William's biological mother, twenty six year old 368 00:26:08.319 --> 00:26:11.960 Amy Tyrill not her real name, was heavily pregnant with 369 00:26:12.039 --> 00:26:14.759 her fourth child when the police knocked on her door 370 00:26:14.839 --> 00:26:18.000 in Western Sydney on the evening of Friday, September twelve, 371 00:26:18.119 --> 00:26:23.440 twenty fourteen. Officers entered the house and were shocked to 372 00:26:23.480 --> 00:26:27.400 find a young boy matching William's description playing in the backyard. 373 00:26:28.519 --> 00:26:31.720 One of the officers looked at Amy and said accusingly, 374 00:26:32.400 --> 00:26:37.319 what have you done? But the boy wasn't William. It 375 00:26:37.480 --> 00:26:42.880 was his eighteen month old brother. Amy and her partner, 376 00:26:43.119 --> 00:26:47.559 Tyler Martin not his real name, who was William's biological father, 377 00:26:48.039 --> 00:26:52.519 were confused by the police presence. They knew they were 378 00:26:52.519 --> 00:26:56.279 on the authority's radar for a string of domestic violence, assault, 379 00:26:56.359 --> 00:26:59.880 and a drug related offenses, and Amy's initial thought was 380 00:27:00.039 --> 00:27:02.319 that there might have been a warrant out for her arrest. 381 00:27:03.920 --> 00:27:07.039 When she was told that William went missing that morning, 382 00:27:07.519 --> 00:27:11.839 she was in disbelief. Amy had never wanted to put 383 00:27:11.880 --> 00:27:15.119 William and Lindsey into foster care, and she'd been taking 384 00:27:15.200 --> 00:27:19.519 steps to get them back. She wondered how her son 385 00:27:19.720 --> 00:27:22.000 could be missing when he'd been put into the care 386 00:27:22.079 --> 00:27:26.799 of guardians who were supposed to keep him safe. At first, 387 00:27:27.000 --> 00:27:31.000 Tyler thought it was a joke, but as the police 388 00:27:31.039 --> 00:27:35.440 began searching their house, the reality of the situation started 389 00:27:35.480 --> 00:27:41.079 to sink in. The police asked Amy and Tyler about 390 00:27:41.119 --> 00:27:45.680 their movements that day. Tyler said he'd woken up before 391 00:27:45.720 --> 00:27:48.839 sunrise to go to the local McDonald's restaurant to grab 392 00:27:48.880 --> 00:27:54.079 breakfast and use the establishment's free WiFi. He was scheduled 393 00:27:54.119 --> 00:27:56.480 to work that day, but he sent his boss a 394 00:27:56.599 --> 00:27:59.079 text to let him know he couldn't make it due 395 00:27:59.079 --> 00:28:03.960 to a shoulder injury. When Tyler got home, Amy took 396 00:28:04.079 --> 00:28:07.079 their eighteen month old son out shopping for the soon 397 00:28:07.160 --> 00:28:08.200 to be born baby. 398 00:28:09.559 --> 00:28:09.960 She said. 399 00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:12.799 The two caught the train to the suburb of Blacktown, 400 00:28:13.079 --> 00:28:16.960 visiting various shops and making several purchases along the way 401 00:28:17.440 --> 00:28:22.079 before returning home at around four pm. 402 00:28:22.200 --> 00:28:23.720 The police were dubious. 403 00:28:24.440 --> 00:28:28.000 After all, if Amy or Tyler had anything to do 404 00:28:28.119 --> 00:28:31.480 with the William's disappearance, it

wouldn't. 405 00:28:31.079 --> 00:28:32.160 Be the first time. 406 00:28:37.400 --> 00:28:40.759 Amy Tyrrell and Tyler Martin were both raised in low 407 00:28:40.920 --> 00:28:44.640 socioeconomic conditions and each struggled with their own set of 408 00:28:44.640 --> 00:28:48.480 personal issues and run ins with the law. In two 409 00:28:48.559 --> 00:28:51.680 thousand and eight, they were introduced by one of Amy's brothers, 410 00:28:51.839 --> 00:28:56.319 and they later began dating. It wasn't long before Amy 411 00:28:56.400 --> 00:29:01.519 became pregnant with Lindsay, but the young couple struggled. They 412 00:29:01.599 --> 00:29:05.599 had limited support and finances, and the demands of parenthood 413 00:29:05.640 --> 00:29:10.880 took a toll on their already volatile relationship. One night, 414 00:29:11.119 --> 00:29:14.519 after the couple had a fight, Amy began drinking heavily. 415 00:29:15.599 --> 00:29:18.119 She was pushing Lindsay in a pram on the street 416 00:29:18.279 --> 00:29:21.480 when police spotted her and thought she was acting erratically. 417 00:29:22.680 --> 00:29:26.240 Concerned for the baby's safety, they approached Amy and one 418 00:29:26.279 --> 00:29:31.119 of the officers tried to take Lindsay away. Amy subsequently 419 00:29:31.200 --> 00:29:36.240 punched the officer in the face. The incident was reported 420 00:29:36.279 --> 00:29:39.240 to FACTS and Lindsay was handed over to the state 421 00:29:39.480 --> 00:29:44.039 and eventually put into Peter and Angela's care. By the 422 00:29:44.119 --> 00:29:47.440 time Amy gave birth to William, he was already on 423 00:29:47.480 --> 00:29:53.599 the department's radar for potential foster care. FACTS believed that 424 00:29:53.640 --> 00:29:57.759 Amy and Tyler's toxic and often violent relationship created an 425 00:29:57.880 --> 00:30:03.079 unsafe home environment for children. The department therefore ruled that 426 00:30:03.119 --> 00:30:06.119 Amy wouldn't be able to keep William if she continued 427 00:30:06.240 --> 00:30:11.039 living with Tyler. The couple stayed together, but told the 428 00:30:11.079 --> 00:30:16.279 authorities their relationship had ended. Eventually, they were caught out 429 00:30:16.480 --> 00:30:19.880 and the New South Wales Family Court ordered that William 430 00:30:19.920 --> 00:30:26.000 be handed over to FACTS. Determined to keep William, Amy 431 00:30:26.000 --> 00:30:30.000 and Tyler took him and went on the run. A 432 00:30:30.039 --> 00:30:33.759 police task force was assembled and several weeks later the 433 00:30:33.839 --> 00:30:36.720 family was found hiding out in a small flat in 434 00:30:36.799 --> 00:30:41.880 Sydney's Upper North Shore. William was taken from his biological 435 00:30:41.960 --> 00:30:45.519 parents and reunited with Lindsay in the custody of Peter 436 00:30:45.720 --> 00:30:52.200 and Angela. As per standard procedure, Amy and Tyler were 437 00:30:52.240 --> 00:30:56.000 forbidden from

having any contact with the foster carers, and 438 00:30:56.240 --> 00:31:00.000 they were only granted the occasional supervised visits with William 439 00:31:00.240 --> 00:31:04.480 and to Lindsay. Each of these visits was overseen by 440 00:31:04.519 --> 00:31:10.480 a social worker. At first, the visits were weekly, then monthly, 441 00:31:10.920 --> 00:31:14.359 and then eventually by the time William went missing for 442 00:31:14.480 --> 00:31:20.079 one hour every two months, Amy and Tyler reluctantly adhered 443 00:31:20.160 --> 00:31:23.640 to these rules with every intention of regaining custody of 444 00:31:23.680 --> 00:31:29.200 their children. They undertook anger management courses, counseling, and joint 445 00:31:29.279 --> 00:31:33.640 parenting groups, unaware that the foster parents were already thinking 446 00:31:33.720 --> 00:31:39.000 about formal adoption. As soon as the police looking into 447 00:31:39.039 --> 00:31:43.359 William Tyrell's disappearance became aware of his family situation, the 448 00:31:43.440 --> 00:31:47.160 possibility was raised that Amy and Tyler could have taken him, 449 00:31:48.359 --> 00:31:51.559 Yet the pair were adamant that they had nothing to 450 00:31:51.640 --> 00:31:55.720 do with it. They both insisted they wouldn't do anything 451 00:31:55.799 --> 00:31:59.160 that could hinder their chances of legally regaining custody of 452 00:31:59.240 --> 00:32:04.119 their kids. They also knew how close William and Lindsay 453 00:32:04.160 --> 00:32:09.559 were and wouldn't dare take one without the other. Police 454 00:32:09.640 --> 00:32:14.359 checked CCTV footage, bank statements, and receipts, all of which 455 00:32:14.519 --> 00:32:18.000 backed up the couple's claims that they were nowhere near 456 00:32:18.079 --> 00:32:26.119 Candle on the day William went missing. The futile search 457 00:32:26.240 --> 00:32:30.680 for William Tyrrel continued for five days until police concluded 458 00:32:30.759 --> 00:32:33.279 that if he had simply gotten lost in the bush, 459 00:32:33.559 --> 00:32:38.519 it was no longer possible that he could still be alive. Instead, 460 00:32:38.839 --> 00:32:43.119 Strike Force Rozanne was created as investigators began to operate 461 00:32:43.240 --> 00:32:45.640 under the assumption that the three year old had been 462 00:32:45.680 --> 00:32:52.079 abducted and possibly killed. The fact that William's disappearance had 463 00:32:52.079 --> 00:32:54.559 been treated as a missing person case from the get 464 00:32:54.599 --> 00:32:58.319 go instead of a major crime presented some problems for 465 00:32:58.359 --> 00:33:04.240 the investigation. For starters, Mary Saunder's house on Benaroon Drive 466 00:33:04.400 --> 00:33:07.680 had never been considered a crime scene, and therefore it 467 00:33:07.799 --> 00:33:14.279 wasn't courtined off or properly secured. With hundreds of volunteers, visitors, 468 00:33:14.279 --> 00:33:18.039 and official personnel having

already trampled through the yard and 469 00:33:18.119 --> 00:33:22.680 its surrounds, any forensic evidence such as footprints, tire tracks, 470 00:33:22.759 --> 00:33:28.319 or DNA were long gone or contaminated. Cars had also 471 00:33:28.480 --> 00:33:31.079 been free to come and go from the area without 472 00:33:31.160 --> 00:33:36.559 being checked in addition, the police had searched some of 473 00:33:36.599 --> 00:33:39.160 the twenty one houses on the street, but not all 474 00:33:39.240 --> 00:33:42.160 of them, with some of their residents having been relied 475 00:33:42.240 --> 00:33:47.519 upon to conduct their own searchers. If William had been taken, 476 00:33:47.839 --> 00:33:50.960 each of these factors meant that vital evidence or a 477 00:33:51.000 --> 00:33:55.240 person of interest could have been overlooked. Police had no 478 00:33:55.359 --> 00:34:00.720 way of knowing what they might have missed. In Australia, 479 00:34:00.920 --> 00:34:03.920 it is extremely rare for a child to be abducted 480 00:34:04.000 --> 00:34:08.840 by a stranger. The person responsible is typically a relative 481 00:34:09.039 --> 00:34:13.920 or someone close to the family. Therefore, Peter and Angela 482 00:34:14.159 --> 00:34:20.800 were obvious suspects. Accepting this uncomfortable fact, the couple willingly 483 00:34:20.840 --> 00:34:25.400 handed over their phones, vehicles, and computers for forensic analysis. 484 00:34:25.719 --> 00:34:30.719 Eager to be ruled out, police looked into Peter's claims 485 00:34:30.800 --> 00:34:32.840 that he'd been in the next town over at the 486 00:34:32.920 --> 00:34:39.039 time William disappeared. Phone records and CCTV footage confirmed that 487 00:34:39.159 --> 00:34:43.280 he'd been in Lakewood at the time in question. Peter 488 00:34:43.440 --> 00:34:46.320 had made a conference call that lasted for thirty nine 489 00:34:46.360 --> 00:34:49.800 minutes before making another call and then ducking into a 490 00:34:49.840 --> 00:34:55.719 grocery store to buy a newspaper. Police considered the possibility 491 00:34:55.840 --> 00:34:59.000 that William could have died by accident and his foster 492 00:34:59.119 --> 00:35:02.840 family had of his body and then faked his disappearance 493 00:35:02.880 --> 00:35:07.159 out of sheer panic, But they found absolutely no evidence 494 00:35:07.199 --> 00:35:10.679 to support such a theory, and by all accounts, Peter 495 00:35:10.800 --> 00:35:16.880 and Angela's desperation to find William seemed completely genuine. Lindsay 496 00:35:16.960 --> 00:35:20.360 had also been present when William went missing, and she 497 00:35:20.599 --> 00:35:23.639 hadn't said anything to the police to raise suspicion on 498 00:35:23.719 --> 00:35:28.360 her foster parents. When questioned about what William had been 499 00:35:28.440 --> 00:35:32.119 doing before he went missing, Lindsay told police that he 500 00:35:32.239 --> 00:35:37.880 was running out to see Daddy's car. Police also considered 501 00:35:37.920 --> 00:35:42.039 the possibility that William's biological parents could have organized to 502 00:35:42.079 --> 00:35:46.840 have someone snatch William on their behalf. The problem with 503 00:35:46.920 --> 00:35:49.920 this theory was that Amy and Tyler didn't even know 504 00:35:50.039 --> 00:35:55.519 William and Lindsay's foster care's names or their address. Furthermore, 505 00:35:55.880 --> 00:35:58.480 no one had told Amy and Tyler that the trip 506 00:35:58.519 --> 00:36:03.320 to Kendall was going ahead. While the foster care agency 507 00:36:03.360 --> 00:36:07.360 had approved the trip, the biological parents weren't made aware 508 00:36:07.400 --> 00:36:12.519 of it. The trip to Kendall had also gone ahead 509 00:36:12.559 --> 00:36:17.440 a day earlier than was originally planned. Peter and Angela 510 00:36:17.559 --> 00:36:20.159 told the police they had been scheduled to drive up 511 00:36:20.199 --> 00:36:24.320 on Friday night, but Peter had finished work early on Thursday, 512 00:36:24.599 --> 00:36:27.199 so they'd decided to get a head start on the 513 00:36:27.239 --> 00:36:31.199 bumper to bumper traffic that typically jammed the Pacific Highway 514 00:36:31.239 --> 00:36:35.599 on Fridays. They had picked William and Lindsay up from 515 00:36:35.679 --> 00:36:39.519 daycare early on Thursday afternoon and headed straight to Kendall 516 00:36:39.639 --> 00:36:43.239 from there, stopping only to have dinner at McDonald's and 517 00:36:43.320 --> 00:36:48.519 to change the kids into their pajamas. The unplanned nature 518 00:36:48.519 --> 00:36:51.239 of the trip ruled out the possibility that it was 519 00:36:51.280 --> 00:36:55.639 a targeted attack. As far as Peter and Angela were aware, 520 00:36:55.960 --> 00:36:58.639 no one had followed them on their drive from Sydney 521 00:36:58.639 --> 00:37:04.440 to Kendle either. Police checked CCTV footage of their journey 522 00:37:04.599 --> 00:37:07.840 and the stops they'd made along the way, but found 523 00:37:07.920 --> 00:37:12.639 nothing to indicate the family was being trailed. The footage 524 00:37:12.679 --> 00:37:17.000 from their stopover at McDonald's showed William joyfully riding into 525 00:37:17.000 --> 00:37:21.000 the restaurant on Peter's shoulders, the very image of a 526 00:37:21.039 --> 00:37:30.280 happy family. Both William's foster parents and his biological parents 527 00:37:30.440 --> 00:37:35.840 were ruled out as suspects, regardless the possibility that William 528 00:37:35.920 --> 00:37:39.400 could have been snatched in an opportunistic attack was difficult 529 00:37:39.480 --> 00:37:44.800 for investigators to comprehend. Benneron Drive was a safe place 530 00:37:44.960 --> 00:37:48.079 where none of the other residents had ever encountered anything 531 00:37:48.159 --> 00:37:51.760 unto ward, and children played on the street without fear. 532 00:37:53.000 --> 00:37:56.360 The isolated location of Mary

Saunders house at the end 533 00:37:56.440 --> 00:37:59.280 of the street, coupled with the lack of street traffic 534 00:37:59.360 --> 00:38:02.239 in the area, meant that a kidnapper would have had 535 00:38:02.280 --> 00:38:05.639 to coincidentally walk or drive past in the mere minutes 536 00:38:05.719 --> 00:38:09.280 that William jumped around the side of the house unsupervised. 537 00:38:10.599 --> 00:38:13.679 Had such a rare moment occurred, it would have taken 538 00:38:13.719 --> 00:38:17.360 an incredibly brazen offender to snatch a child in broad 539 00:38:17.519 --> 00:38:21.239 daylight with his family just meters away, on a quiet 540 00:38:21.280 --> 00:38:24.840 street where any of the neighbors could have easily noticed 541 00:38:24.840 --> 00:38:30.320 an outsider. Several residents were home at the time, and 542 00:38:30.519 --> 00:38:33.639 all of them said they hadn't noticed anyone or anything 543 00:38:33.800 --> 00:38:37.679 out of the ordinary. None of them had been expecting 544 00:38:37.719 --> 00:38:42.440 any visitors on the morning that William went missing either. Still, 545 00:38:42.679 --> 00:38:46.320 police couldn't discount the possibility that someone could have dropped 546 00:38:46.400 --> 00:38:50.800 by without warning, seen William and made the split second 547 00:38:50.920 --> 00:38:55.599 decision to take him. It was also possible that William 548 00:38:55.639 --> 00:38:58.280 had heard a car coming and ran onto the street 549 00:38:58.440 --> 00:39:05.079 thinking it was his father, a ring home before being snatched, However, unlikely. 550 00:39:05.400 --> 00:39:09.239 Investigators also theorized that someone could have heard the children 551 00:39:09.280 --> 00:39:12.679 playing earlier that morning and to lay in wait, ready 552 00:39:12.719 --> 00:39:17.360 to strike if an opportunity arose. If so, they would 553 00:39:17.360 --> 00:39:21.920 have had to move incredibly fast. The fact that William 554 00:39:22.079 --> 00:39:25.000 was wearing the distinct Spider Man outfit would have made 555 00:39:25.039 --> 00:39:28.239 it easy for someone to initiate a conversation with him, 556 00:39:28.480 --> 00:39:30.719 as it was an immediate talking point that. 557 00:39:30.719 --> 00:39:34.960 Would have appealed to William. A perpetrator could have used 558 00:39:35.039 --> 00:39:38.960 that to lure the young boy away voluntarily, or simply 559 00:39:39.039 --> 00:39:44.800 grabbed him and forced his silence. According to Angela, when 560 00:39:44.840 --> 00:39:48.280 she first realized that William went missing, she was struck 561 00:39:48.320 --> 00:39:53.000 by how silent everything had gone. Then she thought she 562 00:39:53.079 --> 00:39:56.280 heard a short, high pitched scream coming from the bush land, 563 00:39:56.719 --> 00:39:59.360 the type of scream a child would make if they'd 564 00:39:59.440 --> 00:40:04.400 hurt themselves. Angela said she had ventured into the reeds 565 00:40:04.559 -->

00:40:07.960 towards the direction of the sound, but couldn't see any 566 00:40:08.000 --> 00:40:12.719 splashes of red from William's Spider Man suit. She had 567 00:40:12.719 --> 00:40:15.960 brushed it off as her imagination, thinking it must have 568 00:40:16.039 --> 00:40:20.559 been a bird. Kendall was home to a species of 569 00:40:20.639 --> 00:40:24.039 bird known as a catbird, which makes a sound very 570 00:40:24.079 --> 00:40:29.280 similar to that of a crying child. At the end 571 00:40:29.320 --> 00:40:32.760 of Benaroon Drive, a dirt fire truck leads into the 572 00:40:32.840 --> 00:40:37.639 dense scrub. If the perpetrator had been on foot, this 573 00:40:37.760 --> 00:40:40.559 could have provided an escape route for them to grab 574 00:40:40.599 --> 00:40:45.320 William and run off undetected, but the terrain in the 575 00:40:45.360 --> 00:40:48.559 surrounding bush was rough and running off with a three 576 00:40:48.599 --> 00:40:52.840 year old boy would have been no easy feet. If 577 00:40:52.880 --> 00:40:57.639 this was indeed a random, opportunistic attack, everyone agreed it 578 00:40:57.639 --> 00:41:00.440 would be one of the rarest and most unform fortunate 579 00:41:00.519 --> 00:41:03.960 cases of William Tyrrell being in the wrong place at 580 00:41:03.960 --> 00:41:11.000 the wrong time. When asked if anyone unusual lived in 581 00:41:11.039 --> 00:41:15.880 the area, Mary Saunders pinpointed one person, a former taxi 582 00:41:15.920 --> 00:41:19.559 driver aged in his fifties who mostly kept to himself. 583 00:41:20.800 --> 00:41:24.679 While there wasn't anything overtly suspicious about him, he lived 584 00:41:24.679 --> 00:41:27.719 alone in a small house surrounded by bush land, where 585 00:41:27.719 --> 00:41:31.719 he kept odd hours, typically sleeping during the day and 586 00:41:31.800 --> 00:41:36.119 hanging around his house at night. In the days following 587 00:41:36.159 --> 00:41:40.440 William Tyrell's disappearance, Some neighbors noticed that the taxi driver 588 00:41:40.519 --> 00:41:45.000 had uncharacteristically left his house. When he returned home a 589 00:41:45.000 --> 00:41:48.079 couple of days later, he was carrying a backpack and 590 00:41:48.199 --> 00:41:50.960 walked around his property as though checking each of his 591 00:41:51.079 --> 00:41:56.719 windows before going inside. An officer went to visit the 592 00:41:56.719 --> 00:42:01.519 former taxi driver and to notice something odd. A box 593 00:42:01.559 --> 00:42:04.480 had been installed over one of his windows, making it 594 00:42:04.519 --> 00:42:09.679 impossible to see inside. When questioned about his whereabouts on 595 00:42:09.719 --> 00:42:13.360 the day of William's disappearance, the taxi driver claimed he'd 596 00:42:13.400 --> 00:42:17.679 been sleeping at home alone, an alibia that couldn't be verified. 597 00:42:19.760 --> 00:42:22.320 The officer noted that the man had a small red 598 00:42:22.400 --> 00:42:26.280 mark on his wrist. A cursory search of the property 599 00:42:26.360 --> 00:42:28.880 revealed a step ladder in the laundry that led up 600 00:42:28.880 --> 00:42:33.239 to a manhole. The officer climbed to the ladder, wondering 601 00:42:33.239 --> 00:42:35.800 if the manhole could be used as a hiding place, 602 00:42:36.960 --> 00:42:40.320 but it was obvious the manhole hadn't been accessed in 603 00:42:40.480 --> 00:42:45.599 some time. When the police returned to visit the taxi 604 00:42:45.679 --> 00:42:48.960 driver again, his television had been paused on a news 605 00:42:49.039 --> 00:42:55.000 channel providing updates about William's disappearance, although this indicated he 606 00:42:55.119 --> 00:42:58.239 was keeping an eye on the story, police found nothing 607 00:42:58.320 --> 00:43:01.119 to suggest he was involved in the crime in any way. 608 00:43:02.599 --> 00:43:05.719 The taxi driver soon sold his house and moved out 609 00:43:05.719 --> 00:43:10.559 of Kendall, saying there was too much activity in the area. 610 00:43:11.599 --> 00:43:15.239 By day fourteen of the hunt for William, Line searchers 611 00:43:15.280 --> 00:43:21.000 had painstakingly covered an area of eighteen square kilometers. Various 612 00:43:21.039 --> 00:43:25.840 items were found, including an abandoned children's cubbyhouse, number plates 613 00:43:25.840 --> 00:43:30.239 from a stolen vehicle, animal bones, a shovel, a spear gun, 614 00:43:30.559 --> 00:43:34.159 and other miscellaneous items, but all of them were ruled 615 00:43:34.199 --> 00:43:38.079 out of having anything to do with William's disappearance, and 616 00:43:38.280 --> 00:43:43.880 still there was no sign of him. Investigators had no 617 00:43:44.000 --> 00:43:48.800 choice but to scale the search back. Instead, they turned 618 00:43:48.840 --> 00:43:51.599 their focus to known sex offenders. 619 00:43:51.079 --> 00:43:52.800 In the area. 620 00:43:53.159 --> 00:43:58.119 This was no easy task. Within the thirty kilometer radius 621 00:43:58.159 --> 00:44:02.800 of Beniruon Drive alone, eighteen known sex offenders lived among 622 00:44:02.920 --> 00:44:08.639 the rural properties. Just further beyond that lived another sixty 623 00:44:10.840 --> 00:44:14.440 detective Chief Inspector Gary Jubilin, who would later come to 624 00:44:14.519 --> 00:44:19.440 Front Strike Force. Rozanne remarked, it's as if they've settled 625 00:44:19.480 --> 00:44:26.920 on this quiet, overlooked backwater like mosquitoes. Detective jubilan told 626 00:44:27.039 --> 00:44:30.719 reporters that police intended to track the movements of everyone 627 00:44:30.800 --> 00:44:33.880 who was within a one kilometer radius of Benarun Drive 628 00:44:34.000 --> 00:44:37.599 on the day William went missing. If anyone who had 629 00:44:37.639 --> 00:44:41.119 been in the area failed to come forward and identify themselves, 630 00:44:41.400 --> 00:44:45.159 Jubilan warned, it would give the police

grave concerns and 631 00:44:45.360 --> 00:44:51.519 be an immediate cause for suspicion. CCTV footage was collected 632 00:44:51.559 --> 00:44:57.039 from twelve businesses around Kendall. Police were particularly interested in 633 00:44:57.079 --> 00:45:00.480 the footage captured by the Kendall Tennis Club between five 634 00:45:00.519 --> 00:45:04.559 and eleven on the morning of Friday, September twelve, twenty fourteen. 635 00:45:06.360 --> 00:45:09.320 This camera faced one of the main roads leading in 636 00:45:09.400 --> 00:45:11.760 and out of the village and there was a chance 637 00:45:11.840 --> 00:45:16.559 that had captured the abductor's car. However, the footage was 638 00:45:16.639 --> 00:45:19.800 grainy and only captured the sides of the vehicles, not 639 00:45:19.920 --> 00:45:23.440 their number plates, making it difficult to identify the cars 640 00:45:23.519 --> 00:45:28.079 that came and went. However, there were numerous roads leading 641 00:45:28.119 --> 00:45:31.400 to Benarun Drive, and it was possible the kidnapper hadn't 642 00:45:31.440 --> 00:45:37.280 been captured on any cameras at all. Although William Tyrell's 643 00:45:37.320 --> 00:45:42.519 disappearance had made national headlines, investigative resources were limited, and 644 00:45:42.719 --> 00:45:46.880 questioning witnesses and persons of interest was a time consuming task. 645 00:45:48.039 --> 00:45:52.400 Police were also inundated with reported sightings of William coming 646 00:45:52.480 --> 00:45:57.079 from all over the country. It didn't help that Spider 647 00:45:57.119 --> 00:46:03.719 Man costumes were incredibly popular amongst yeah boys. Every potential lead, 648 00:46:04.000 --> 00:46:08.199 citing and piece of information was diligently recorded, but the 649 00:46:08.280 --> 00:46:13.360 hard part for police was figuring out which to prioritize. 650 00:46:13.639 --> 00:46:17.639 They worked tirelessly for several months, checking one hundred and 651 00:46:17.679 --> 00:46:21.719 sixty nine CCTV cameras from outside Candle as well as 652 00:46:21.719 --> 00:46:26.559 analyzing data from traffic cameras and mobile phone towers. But 653 00:46:26.920 --> 00:46:30.280 things moved slowly, and as the year drew to an end, 654 00:46:30.679 --> 00:46:34.559 they didn't seem to be any closer to finding William. 655 00:46:35.960 --> 00:46:39.039 Then a call came in from someone who wanted to 656 00:46:39.079 --> 00:46:42.320 report a member of the community as a potential person 657 00:46:42.360 --> 00:46:50.280 of interest. Four days before William Tyrell went missing, his 658 00:46:50.400 --> 00:46:55.519 grandmother Mary called a local Whitewoods repair company called Spaedow's Repairs, 659 00:46:55.920 --> 00:47:01.119 after her washing machine stopped working. The business owner, sixty 660 00:47:01.159 --> 00:47:03.760 three year old Bill Spedding, came to the house to 661 00:47:03.840 --> 00:47:06.880 provide a quote, only to discover that he

needed to 662 00:47:07.000 --> 00:47:10.639 order a new part. He told Mary he would come 663 00:47:10.679 --> 00:47:13.920 back to conduct the repairs whenever the part came in. 664 00:47:16.239 --> 00:47:20.920 On Friday September twelve, just ninety minutes before William vanished, 665 00:47:21.199 --> 00:47:24.559 Angela had called Bill Spedding on her mother's behalf to 666 00:47:24.639 --> 00:47:27.760 follow up on the replacement part, as the washing machine 667 00:47:27.800 --> 00:47:32.679 still wasn't working. The call had gone straight to voicemail, 668 00:47:32.880 --> 00:47:36.039 so she left a message asking Spedding to call her back. 669 00:47:37.440 --> 00:47:40.360 Mary said that he would likely show up at any 670 00:47:40.400 --> 00:47:44.519 time without prior notice. That's just how things were done 671 00:47:44.639 --> 00:47:49.519 in Candle. Given that Bill Spedding was one of the 672 00:47:49.559 --> 00:47:52.639 few visitors to Benirun Drive in the days leading up 673 00:47:52.760 --> 00:47:56.880 to William's disappearance, police had already taken him in for questioning. 674 00:47:56.920 --> 00:48:01.760 In the early stages of the investigation, Spedding had confirmed 675 00:48:01.760 --> 00:48:05.159 to details about the initial repair call out, but he 676 00:48:05.239 --> 00:48:08.239 denied having received a follow up phone call from Angela. 677 00:48:08.320 --> 00:48:14.079 On September twelve, police confiscated Spedding's phone and found no 678 00:48:14.280 --> 00:48:21.559 record of Angela's voicemail. This was immediately suspicious. Police already 679 00:48:21.559 --> 00:48:24.960 had Angela's phone data confirming she had made the call 680 00:48:25.039 --> 00:48:28.519 to Bill Spedding, leaving officers to wonder if he had 681 00:48:28.559 --> 00:48:33.360 deleted it if he had nothing to do with William's disappearance. 682 00:48:33.679 --> 00:48:38.280 They wondered why he would do such a thing, but 683 00:48:38.559 --> 00:48:42.920 Bill Spedding steadfastly denied having ever received the message at all. 684 00:48:44.280 --> 00:48:46.960 He also claimed to have an alibia. For the day 685 00:48:47.000 --> 00:48:52.079 of William's disappearance. According to Spedding, he and his wife 686 00:48:52.119 --> 00:48:55.719 Margaret had coffee at a local cafe, leaving around nine 687 00:48:55.840 --> 00:48:59.000 forty five am to attend a school assembly where their 688 00:48:59.039 --> 00:49:04.199 grandson had rest an award. Afterwards, Spedding said he went 689 00:49:04.280 --> 00:49:07.199 back to his office and worked a normal day before 690 00:49:07.239 --> 00:49:12.400 picking his grandchildren up from school. While Spedding said his 691 00:49:12.519 --> 00:49:15.559 wife was the only one who could verify his alibi, 692 00:49:15.920 --> 00:49:20.599 police weren't overly concerned until the tip off came through 693 00:49:20.679 --> 00:49:23.320 from a member of the public to report that Bill 694 00:49:23.400 --> 00:49:26.960 Spedding had been accused of sexually assaulting two young girls 695 00:49:27.000 --> 00:49:31.920 in the past. It was alleged that in nineteen eighty seven, 696 00:49:32.239 --> 00:49:35.639 Spedding had sexually assaulted a three and five year old 697 00:49:35.800 --> 00:49:40.400 during an overnight stay in a caravan park. Another tipster 698 00:49:40.599 --> 00:49:44.199 also came forward to report having seen Spedding access some 699 00:49:44.280 --> 00:49:47.960 storage sheds he owned six hours inland from Kendall. On 700 00:49:48.000 --> 00:49:54.440 the day after William disappeared. Suddenly, Bill Spedding was looking 701 00:49:54.519 --> 00:49:59.199 much more interesting to the police. They obtained bank statements 702 00:49:59.239 --> 00:50:01.960 from the cafe Spedding claimed to have dined at on 703 00:50:02.000 --> 00:50:05.519 the morning William Tyrell went missing, and confirmed that he 704 00:50:05.639 --> 00:50:10.800 and Margaret had indeed been there at nine forty two. However, 705 00:50:11.159 --> 00:50:14.480 the cafe was only an eighteen minute car trip from 706 00:50:14.599 --> 00:50:20.079 Benaroon Drive. If Spedding was lying about attending his grandson's 707 00:50:20.079 --> 00:50:23.599 school assembly, police theorized that he could have driven to 708 00:50:23.679 --> 00:50:26.679 Mary's house to work on her washing machine when he'd 709 00:50:26.679 --> 00:50:30.280 come across William and made the split second decision to 710 00:50:30.320 --> 00:50:35.960 snatch him. They questioned school faculty members and some other 711 00:50:36.079 --> 00:50:38.880 parents who attended the assembly on the day in question, 712 00:50:39.480 --> 00:50:43.119 but given the passing of time, no one could specifically 713 00:50:43.159 --> 00:50:48.039 recall seeing Bill Spedding there, although they said that the 714 00:50:48.079 --> 00:50:52.000 assemblies occurred frequently and each one tended to blur into 715 00:50:52.079 --> 00:50:56.559 the other. One woman had taken photos of the event 716 00:50:56.719 --> 00:50:59.840 on September twelve, but she had since dropped her phone 717 00:51:00.119 --> 00:51:07.039 the toilet and lost its contents. Strikeforce investigators were conflicted 718 00:51:07.119 --> 00:51:11.159 about how to act if they decided to pursue a 719 00:51:11.239 --> 00:51:15.079 raid on Spedding's home and business. The news would surely 720 00:51:15.239 --> 00:51:19.760 leak if Spedding found out he was a suspect. This 721 00:51:19.880 --> 00:51:23.159 would give him a chance to destroy any potential evidence. 722 00:51:24.440 --> 00:51:28.079 But if they got it right, they just might find 723 00:51:28.320 --> 00:51:38.599 William Tyrrell. Case File will be back shortly. Thank you 724 00:51:38.679 --> 00:51:44.800 for supporting us by listening to this episode's sponsors. Thank 725 00:51:44.840 --> 00:51:49.199 you for listening to this episode's ads. By supporting our sponsors, 726

00:51:49.360 --> 00:51:53.079 you support case File to continue to deliver quality content. 727 00:52:00.039 --> 00:52:04.360 On Tuesday, January twenty, twenty fifteen, just over four months 728 00:52:04.400 --> 00:52:09.239 after William Tyrell disappeared, detectives from Strike Force Rozanne descended 729 00:52:09.280 --> 00:52:12.519 on Bill Spedding's home in Bonnie Hills, a small town 730 00:52:12.639 --> 00:52:17.079 twenty kilometers northeast of Kendall. He lived there with his 731 00:52:17.159 --> 00:52:20.280 wife and three grandchildren, for whom they were the current 732 00:52:20.480 --> 00:52:21.480 legal guardians. 733 00:52:23.119 --> 00:52:24.519 It was a dramatic scene. 734 00:52:24.599 --> 00:52:29.559 With an excavator, cadaver dog and forensic experts on standby. 735 00:52:30.119 --> 00:52:32.920 The search team scoured each room of the house and 736 00:52:33.079 --> 00:52:36.679 the dark, dank recesses of the basement before turning their 737 00:52:36.719 --> 00:52:41.639 attention to the yard and a woodpile outside. A plumber 738 00:52:41.800 --> 00:52:44.599 was even brought in to drain the property's septic tank, 739 00:52:46.760 --> 00:52:50.360 eleven kilometers from Kendall in the coastal town of Loreton. 740 00:52:50.599 --> 00:52:55.639 A search was also conducted at Spedding's office, as feared 741 00:52:55.880 --> 00:52:58.960 news of the raids had leaked, and throngs of media 742 00:52:59.039 --> 00:53:02.400 gathered outside both properties, ready to capture any brakes in 743 00:53:02.440 --> 00:53:07.719 the story. Police seized phones, computers, and a mattress, but 744 00:53:07.800 --> 00:53:08.400 found no. 745 00:53:08.480 --> 00:53:10.119 Sign of William. 746 00:53:10.960 --> 00:53:14.800 There was one item of particular interest found in his van, though, 747 00:53:15.320 --> 00:53:21.199 a Spider Man toy. Bill Spedding was taken into custody 748 00:53:21.239 --> 00:53:26.960 and subject to six hours of grueling interrogation. Investigators put 749 00:53:27.000 --> 00:53:30.800 it to him that on Friday September twelve, twenty fourteen, 750 00:53:31.039 --> 00:53:34.000 he showed up at a Benaroon Drive to fix Mary 751 00:53:34.000 --> 00:53:38.320 Saunders's washing machine, but saw William playing outside and made 752 00:53:38.360 --> 00:53:43.320 the snap decision to abduct him. They suggested that Spedding 753 00:53:43.400 --> 00:53:45.719 had taken the three year old in his work van 754 00:53:46.000 --> 00:53:52.000 and quickly fled the scene. Spedding strongly rejected these allegations. 755 00:53:52.880 --> 00:53:56.199 He stuck by his alibi and denied having deleted a 756 00:53:56.280 --> 00:53:59.159 voice mail from Angela on the day William went missing. 757 00:54:00.960 --> 00:54:03.480 As for the Spider Man toy found in his van. 758 00:54:03.840 --> 00:54:07.599 He claimed it belonged to one of his grandchildren. His 759 00:54:07.679 --> 00:54:10.840 wife supported this, saying one of the kids had given 760 00:54:10.880 --> 00:54:13.639 it to Spedding to keep him company while he worked, 761 00:54:15.159 --> 00:54:19.800 but detectives weren't convinced. They thought there was something off 762 00:54:19.840 --> 00:54:22.320 about Spedding and that he had a sly way of 763 00:54:22.400 --> 00:54:28.239 answering questions. Regardless, with nothing eventuating from the raids, he 764 00:54:28.360 --> 00:54:33.960 was free to go. By this point, Bill Spedding's potential 765 00:54:34.000 --> 00:54:37.679 involvement in William's disappearance was a hot topic around town. 766 00:54:38.960 --> 00:54:41.920 A month before the raids, he had shared a Facebook 767 00:54:41.960 --> 00:54:45.159 post from another user that contained a picture of William 768 00:54:45.199 --> 00:54:51.199 Tyrell and rad today somebody is keeping a secret. They 769 00:54:51.199 --> 00:54:54.960 got up this morning, had breakfast, realized that they need 770 00:54:55.000 --> 00:54:58.880 to pick up some more milk, made some calls, all 771 00:54:58.920 --> 00:55:05.000 the while maintaining a poker face. Some viewed this as 772 00:55:05.039 --> 00:55:08.519 Spedding's way of taunting the police, as though to say 773 00:55:09.039 --> 00:55:15.880 catch me if you can. A week after the raids 774 00:55:15.880 --> 00:55:19.800 on Bill Spedding's properties, the investigation was officially handed over 775 00:55:19.960 --> 00:55:24.159 to Detective Chief Inspector Gary Jubilin after the case's initial 776 00:55:24.239 --> 00:55:29.559 lead detective retired Detective jubilan was a veteran of the 777 00:55:29.599 --> 00:55:34.760 New South Wales Police Force, known for his tenacity and resoluteness. 778 00:55:35.000 --> 00:55:39.440 Jubilin applied disciplined thinking and creative policing to help solve 779 00:55:39.559 --> 00:55:43.719 some of the country's most high profile murder cases. He 780 00:55:43.800 --> 00:55:47.400 also worked on the Bauerville murders, as covered in episode 781 00:55:47.480 --> 00:55:50.159 one eight six of Case File, and on the Matt 782 00:55:50.239 --> 00:55:56.119 Levison case covered in the Case File presant series Maddie. 783 00:55:56.239 --> 00:55:59.639 Although he had a hard edge, Jubilin was admired by 784 00:55:59.679 --> 00:56:03.679 victim UM's families for his genuinely kind and compassionate nature. 785 00:56:04.800 --> 00:56:07.960 He was the kind of detective who took each case personally, 786 00:56:08.280 --> 00:56:12.480 giving the investigation his all and refusing to accept mediocrity. 787 00:56:13.960 --> 00:56:17.519 He promised William's foster family he would do everything he 788 00:56:17.599 --> 00:56:22.880 could to find William. By the time William had been 789 00:56:22.920 --> 00:56:27.039 missing for six months, police interviewed an elderly Candle resident 790 00:56:27.199 --> 00:56:30.360 after hearing he had some information that could be useful 791 00:56:30.440 --> 00:56:36.039 to the investigation. Ronald Chapman

lived on Laurel Street, about 792 00:56:36.119 --> 00:56:40.920 half a kilometer from Benaroon Drive. At around ten forty 793 00:56:40.920 --> 00:56:44.480 five on the morning that William went missing, Ronald claimed 794 00:56:44.559 --> 00:56:48.760 that he had stepped outside to check the mail. A 795 00:56:48.840 --> 00:56:52.880 fawn colored four wheel drive sped past, rounding the corner 796 00:56:53.000 --> 00:56:57.760 so fast that loose gravel flew onto Ronald's lawn. In 797 00:56:57.840 --> 00:57:01.199 the back seat, Ronald saw a young boy matching William 798 00:57:01.239 --> 00:57:06.320 Tyrell's description, standing up without a seatbold on. He had 799 00:57:06.320 --> 00:57:09.079 a bewildered look on his face and was wearing a 800 00:57:09.119 --> 00:57:12.639 blue and red outfit with black patterns on it, resembling 801 00:57:12.679 --> 00:57:16.920 a spider Man costume. The car was being driven by 802 00:57:16.960 --> 00:57:20.280 a woman, who Ronald described as a plump blonde in 803 00:57:20.360 --> 00:57:25.320 her thirties. A blue sedan with a mail driver sped 804 00:57:25.360 --> 00:57:29.159 behind in close proximity, as though the two vehicles were 805 00:57:29.199 --> 00:57:34.119 traveling together. Ronald said he swore at the woman under 806 00:57:34.119 --> 00:57:37.719 his breath for driving so fast with an unrestrained child 807 00:57:37.840 --> 00:57:43.639 on board. Police weren't sure what to make of this information. 808 00:57:44.679 --> 00:57:48.199 Ronald was adamant that the incident had happened, but it 809 00:57:48.320 --> 00:57:51.280 begged the question of why he hadn't reported it sooner. 810 00:57:52.719 --> 00:57:56.400 Ronald claimed that when he heard about William's disappearance, he 811 00:57:56.559 --> 00:58:01.119 did tell some acquaintances about what he'd seen. He assumed 812 00:58:01.280 --> 00:58:04.000 they would pass the information on to a local officer. 813 00:58:04.119 --> 00:58:07.159 They were friendly with and expected police to come and 814 00:58:07.280 --> 00:58:11.639 question him about it. When they didn't, he just assumed 815 00:58:11.679 --> 00:58:17.519 they had more significant leeds worth following. Ronald was known 816 00:58:17.559 --> 00:58:20.079 to be an honest man with a knife at detail, 817 00:58:20.880 --> 00:58:23.519 but some relatives who were staying with him at the 818 00:58:23.559 --> 00:58:26.800 time of this supposed incident said he'd never mentioned it. 819 00:58:28.119 --> 00:58:31.960 When pressed by detectives, Ronald admitted he could have dreamt 820 00:58:32.000 --> 00:58:35.400 the whole thing, but when shown a photo of William, 821 00:58:35.719 --> 00:58:38.639 he was certain it was the same boy that he'd seen. 822 00:58:44.000 --> 00:58:47.480 For William's foster parents, the decision to return to Sydney 823 00:58:47.519 --> 00:58:52.639 after William's disappearance had not been easy, but they felt 824 00:58:52.679 --> 00:58:55.000 there was little

they could do to help in Kendall 825 00:58:55.280 --> 00:58:57.840 and they needed life to return to as normal as 826 00:58:57.880 --> 00:59:03.440 possible for Lindsey. While the case continued making national headlines, 827 00:59:03.760 --> 00:59:09.079 things were tainted by the mysterious nature surrounding William's family status. 828 00:59:10.320 --> 00:59:13.400 The public still hadn't been made aware that William was 829 00:59:13.440 --> 00:59:17.199 a foster child, and suspicion continued to be cast upon 830 00:59:17.280 --> 00:59:21.960 his parents. The fact that they weren't talking led many 831 00:59:22.000 --> 00:59:26.760 to believe the family had something to hide, with their 832 00:59:26.880 --> 00:59:31.320 enigmatic status, hindering public sympathy, the strike force bargained with 833 00:59:31.360 --> 00:59:34.639 the Department of Family and Community Services to let them 834 00:59:34.679 --> 00:59:39.639 release an interview with Angela and Peter online. While it 835 00:59:39.719 --> 00:59:43.000 still couldn't be revealed that William was a foster child. 836 00:59:43.280 --> 00:59:45.719 The aim of the video was to let people know 837 00:59:45.920 --> 00:59:49.639 he was dearly loved and sorely missed, and to give 838 00:59:49.719 --> 00:59:52.719 the foster parents the chance to plead for his return. 839 00:59:55.280 --> 00:59:58.519 The twenty one minute video interview went ahead in April 840 00:59:58.559 --> 01:00:04.400 two thousand fifteen, over six months after William vanished. While 841 01:00:04.440 --> 01:00:07.679 Peter and Angela's faces were blanked out, they could be 842 01:00:07.719 --> 01:00:10.280 heard crying as they talked about their love for the 843 01:00:10.360 --> 01:00:14.519 cheeky and vibrant little boy, describing their ordeal as a 844 01:00:14.559 --> 01:00:19.920 living nightmare. I just can't believe it's happened, Angela said. 845 01:00:20.840 --> 01:00:24.440 We just don't have our boy. We we have no 846 01:00:24.559 --> 01:00:27.639 idea where he is. We don't know who's got him. 847 01:00:28.000 --> 01:00:30.920 We don't know what's happening to him. We know nothing 848 01:00:30.960 --> 01:00:36.079 about it. We just want it to be over. The 849 01:00:36.159 --> 01:00:39.639 couple said. They continued to hold hopes that William would 850 01:00:39.639 --> 01:00:45.360 be found alive. Angela pleaded, if somebody has him, and 851 01:00:45.400 --> 01:00:47.880 if he is alive, I want him to be safe. 852 01:00:48.440 --> 01:00:50.760 I want him to be feeling loved, and I want 853 01:00:50.840 --> 01:00:54.320 someone to be looking after him, because to imagine something 854 01:00:54.320 --> 01:00:57.679 else is going on. We can't live a life like that. 855 01:00:58.960 --> 01:01:02.199 We need to know where he is. His sister can't 856 01:01:02.239 --> 01:01:04.760 grow up and never knowing what happened to her brother. 857 01:01:05.920 --> 01:01:09.079 Just to give him back. Take him to a church, 858 01:01:09.519 --> 01:01:12.639 take him to a police station, take him to a school, 859 01:01:14.039 --> 01:01:16.559 give him back, Give him back. 860 01:01:19.199 --> 01:01:20.880 The video provoked. 861 01:01:20.400 --> 01:01:24.360 To mixed responses. While some people felt deeply for the 862 01:01:24.400 --> 01:01:28.960 grieving family, others questioned why their identities continued to be 863 01:01:29.079 --> 01:01:34.400 withheld online. Sleuths wondered whether the parents were involved in 864 01:01:34.440 --> 01:01:37.840 the crime, were in witness protection, or were part of 865 01:01:37.960 --> 01:01:43.000 something dangerous like a criminal gang. The police did their 866 01:01:43.039 --> 01:01:47.320 best to dispel these suspicions, but the questions loomed over 867 01:01:47.400 --> 01:01:53.119 public opinion like a dark cloud. Peter and Angela began 868 01:01:53.239 --> 01:01:56.280 working with a not for profit public relations firm as 869 01:01:56.320 --> 01:01:59.159 a means to communicate with the public without having to 870 01:01:59.199 --> 01:02:05.320 reveal their faith. Together, they created a campaign titled Where's William, 871 01:02:05.559 --> 01:02:09.639 which included the launch of a website, billboards, and social media. 872 01:02:11.159 --> 01:02:14.000 The aim of the campaign was to provide the community 873 01:02:14.039 --> 01:02:18.840 with more information about William's disappearance, while hopefully generating information 874 01:02:18.960 --> 01:02:22.800 that could assist with the investigation and ultimately bring the 875 01:02:22.840 --> 01:02:27.599 little boy home. They created missing person posters that the 876 01:02:27.639 --> 01:02:31.719 public and businesses could share, with coasters placed in pubs 877 01:02:31.760 --> 01:02:34.800 in the hopes someone might become loose lipped after one 878 01:02:34.840 --> 01:02:40.039 too many drinks. To coincide with the launch, Peter and 879 01:02:40.119 --> 01:02:45.039 Angela released a statement that rad in part, this has 880 01:02:45.119 --> 01:02:48.199 torn away the fabric and foundation of our life as 881 01:02:48.239 --> 01:02:48.880 we know it. 882 01:02:49.920 --> 01:02:50.400 There is a. 883 01:02:50.440 --> 01:02:53.840 Huge gap of space emptiness in our lives that we 884 01:02:53.880 --> 01:02:58.039 feel without William being here with us. We have been 885 01:02:58.239 --> 01:03:04.559 entirely shattered, a motion, exhausted, physically and mentally beaten. This 886 01:03:04.719 --> 01:03:10.000 is a pure living nightmare. William's sister continues to ask 887 01:03:10.119 --> 01:03:14.159 where her brother is and when he'll be home. We've 888 01:03:14.199 --> 01:03:16.960 tried so hard to keep life as normal as possible 889 01:03:17.000 --> 01:03:20.199 for her, reminding her how loved and safe she is 890 01:03:20.599 --> 01:03:24.760 even though William is not here. They were like two 891 01:03:24.840 --> 01:03:28.840 peas in a pot. For

those who have families and 892 01:03:29.079 --> 01:03:34.239 children of their own, this is so unbelievably confronting. If 893 01:03:34.239 --> 01:03:43.599 it could happen to us, it could happen to them. Meanwhile, 894 01:03:43.800 --> 01:03:49.760 the implications against Whitewoods repairman Bill Spedding kept coming. One 895 01:03:49.800 --> 01:03:53.480 of his neighbors, a man named Dean Pollard, came forward 896 01:03:53.559 --> 01:03:57.679 to claim that on Saturday, September thirteenth, twenty fourteen, the 897 01:03:57.760 --> 01:04:01.800 day after William Tyrrell went missing, he saw Spedding's work 898 01:04:01.920 --> 01:04:06.119 van driving down a dirt track. It was near an 899 01:04:06.199 --> 01:04:11.840 area of dense forest colloquially known as Ghost Road. Dean 900 01:04:11.960 --> 01:04:15.400 claimed that when Spedding saw him, he ducked down to 901 01:04:15.480 --> 01:04:21.960 avoid being spotted. Dean told police it was definitely Bill's van. 902 01:04:22.960 --> 01:04:28.400 I would know it anywhere. With this new information coming 903 01:04:28.440 --> 01:04:31.679 to light, a major search was organized of the bushlands 904 01:04:31.719 --> 01:04:36.320 surrounding the area in question. If William's body had been 905 01:04:36.400 --> 01:04:39.239 left out in the elements, police were aware that there 906 01:04:39.280 --> 01:04:41.920 would be nothing left at this point but his small 907 01:04:41.960 --> 01:04:47.079 skeletal remains, which would be easy to miss. However, if 908 01:04:47.119 --> 01:04:50.199 he was buried with his clothes on, the polyester spider 909 01:04:50.239 --> 01:04:53.519 Man suit would take hundreds of years to disintegrate, and 910 01:04:53.679 --> 01:04:58.599 the rubber soles of his shoes would take decades. Dozens 911 01:04:58.599 --> 01:05:02.639 of uniformed police officers searched with the help of cadaver dogs, 912 01:05:02.920 --> 01:05:08.280 but found nothing relevant to the William Tyrel investigation. Yet 913 01:05:08.519 --> 01:05:14.119 something of interest did come out of it. While the 914 01:05:14.199 --> 01:05:17.760 search was under way, camera crews were on standby, ready 915 01:05:17.760 --> 01:05:22.920 to capture any discoveries. As the cameras rolled, they captured 916 01:05:22.960 --> 01:05:26.679 Bill Spedding's van as it drove right past the search site, 917 01:05:27.000 --> 01:05:32.639 with Spedding looking out the window. When questioned, Spedding denied 918 01:05:32.719 --> 01:05:37.679 having been anywhere near Ghost Road on September thirteen. He 919 01:05:37.760 --> 01:05:40.360 claimed he had been celebrating the end of the football 920 01:05:40.400 --> 01:05:44.440 season at the local footy club, approximately twenty kilometers away. 921 01:05:45.840 --> 01:05:49.599 Although police still had no evidence against Spedding in relation 922 01:05:49.719 --> 01:05:55.440 to William Tyrrel, suspicion against him was growing. The allegations 923 01:05:55.440 -->

01:05:58.519 that he'd sexually assaulted two young girls in the past 924 01:05:58.719 --> 01:06:03.119 were enough to warrant an other If police brought Spedding 925 01:06:03.159 --> 01:06:06.760 in for that crime. Their hopes were that with enough pressure, 926 01:06:07.039 --> 01:06:11.079 he might cave and admit to being involved with William's disappearance. 927 01:06:13.360 --> 01:06:17.880 On Wednesday April twenty two, twenty fifteen, almost seven and 928 01:06:17.920 --> 01:06:21.159 a half months after William went missing, a team of 929 01:06:21.239 --> 01:06:26.519 detectives arrived at Bill Spedding's house in Bonnie Hills. They 930 01:06:26.559 --> 01:06:30.039 placed him under arrest for the historic sexual assault crimes 931 01:06:30.079 --> 01:06:31.159 he had been accused of. 932 01:06:32.719 --> 01:06:33.840 He was charged with. 933 01:06:33.960 --> 01:06:37.119 Five counts of sexual intercourse with a child under ten, 934 01:06:37.519 --> 01:06:42.159 as well as two counts of common assault. Spedding vehemently 935 01:06:42.280 --> 01:06:47.519 denied the allegations. He claimed the crimes were fabricated by 936 01:06:47.559 --> 01:06:50.079 his ex wife during a time when the two were 937 01:06:50.079 --> 01:06:54.800 going through a bitter divorce and custody battle. At the time, 938 01:06:55.079 --> 01:06:57.920 his ex wife had been advised not to pursue the 939 01:06:58.039 --> 01:07:00.960 charges due to lack of evidence, and a judge had 940 01:07:01.039 --> 01:07:05.880 thrown the entire case out. This time, Spedding was held 941 01:07:05.920 --> 01:07:13.480 in jail pending the outcome of a trial. Bill Spedding's 942 01:07:13.559 --> 01:07:16.960 cellmate was a sex offender in his late fifties named 943 01:07:17.079 --> 01:07:21.840 Tony Jones, who was serving a three year sentence. Although 944 01:07:21.960 --> 01:07:25.079 Jones had a master long criminal rap sheet that included 945 01:07:25.199 --> 01:07:29.440 charges for assault, breaking and entering, and various drug offenses, 946 01:07:29.880 --> 01:07:35.079 his latest charge was one of the more vile. Jones 947 01:07:35.119 --> 01:07:39.360 had joined a local community group called Grandparents as Parents Again, 948 01:07:39.599 --> 01:07:42.599 which supported older people who had been given custody of 949 01:07:42.639 --> 01:07:48.719 their grandchildren for various reasons. Jones used his position to 950 01:07:48.760 --> 01:07:52.840 take advantage of a young intellectually disabled girl by overdosing 951 01:07:52.880 --> 01:07:56.880 her with autism medication and sexually assaulting her while she 952 01:07:57.000 --> 01:08:02.199 was semi conscious. He was subsequent convicted of aggravated child 953 01:08:02.320 --> 01:08:08.079 sexual assault. The fact that Tony Jones and Bill Spedding 954 01:08:08.159 --> 01:08:13.679 were cellmates was no accident. Jones, who lived twenty three 955 01:08:13.760 --> 01:08:17.119 kilometers from Kendall in the town of Warhope, had also 956 01:08:17.319 --> 01:08:21.199 been established as a person of interest in William Tyrell's disappearance. 957 01:08:22.640 --> 01:08:26.039 On the day William went missing, the unemployed former truck 958 01:08:26.119 --> 01:08:29.600 driver left home early, telling his partner Debbie, he was 959 01:08:29.640 --> 01:08:32.399 going out into the bush with their son to collect 960 01:08:32.520 --> 01:08:37.319 scripe metal, but Debbie soon found their son at home 961 01:08:37.439 --> 01:08:42.319 with no knowledge of this supposed outing. Enraged, she waited 962 01:08:42.359 --> 01:08:47.439 at home to confront Jones about the lie. When Jones 963 01:08:47.479 --> 01:08:51.640 returned home at around two pm on September twelve, Debbie 964 01:08:51.640 --> 01:08:56.439 claimed he was so intoxicated he could barely speak. This 965 01:08:56.720 --> 01:09:02.119 wasn't out of the ordinary. Was an alcoholic, often scrounging 966 01:09:02.199 --> 01:09:04.840 up scrap metal that he could trade for beer money. 967 01:09:06.079 --> 01:09:09.720 He allegedly told Debbie he'd been out drinking with his mate, 968 01:09:09.880 --> 01:09:15.279 Paul Bickford. Bickford was the former president of Grandparents as 969 01:09:15.359 --> 01:09:18.840 parents again, who had once been named Senior Volunteer of 970 01:09:18.920 --> 01:09:24.319 the Year, but far from heroic. Bickford removed himself from 971 01:09:24.399 --> 01:09:27.680 the group after he was accused of sexually assaulting an 972 01:09:27.680 --> 01:09:31.239 intellectually disabled eleven year old girl while on a drive 973 01:09:31.439 --> 01:09:37.239 to buy her lollies. The separate sex offenses committed by 974 01:09:37.279 --> 01:09:41.079 Tony Jones and Paul Bickford ultimately came to light during 975 01:09:41.119 --> 01:09:47.079 the investigation into William Tyrell's disappearance, and both men faced charges. 976 01:09:46.600 --> 01:09:47.479 For their crimes. 977 01:09:48.600 --> 01:09:51.920 Police explored the possibility that the two men could have 978 01:09:51.960 --> 01:09:54.880 been part of a pedophile ring, but given they were 979 01:09:54.880 --> 01:10:01.239 both more solitary predators, this was deemed unlikely. However, there 980 01:10:01.359 --> 01:10:04.840 was something about Tony Jones that the police couldn't ignore. 981 01:10:06.399 --> 01:10:10.079 His partner, Debby, drove a white station wagon similar to 982 01:10:10.119 --> 01:10:13.159 the one William's foster mother claimed to have spotted on 983 01:10:13.319 --> 01:10:18.840 Benaroon Drive on the morning of William's disappearance. Additionally, his 984 01:10:19.000 --> 01:10:22.760 habit of collecting scrap metal meant he had intimate knowledge 985 01:10:22.760 --> 01:10:28.720 of the bush land around Kendle and surrounds. Jones, who 986 01:10:28.760 --> 01:10:32.000 no longer had a driver's license, told police he didn't 987 01:10:32.039 --> 01:10:36.920 have access to the white station wagon.

This was disputed 988 01:10:36.960 --> 01:10:40.319 by several witnesses, who said he often took it without 989 01:10:40.399 --> 01:10:45.840 Debby's knowledge. Jones also gave various alibis for the morning 990 01:10:45.840 --> 01:10:50.920 of Friday, September twelve, two thousand fourteen. First, he claimed 991 01:10:50.960 --> 01:10:54.319 he was out in Bago State Forest collecting scrap metal 992 01:10:54.359 --> 01:10:57.800 on his own. Then he changed his mind and said 993 01:10:57.800 --> 01:11:02.159 he was out chopping wood. Later, he changed his story 994 01:11:02.319 --> 01:11:04.960 entirely and said he was off sourcing a hot water 995 01:11:05.039 --> 01:11:10.159 heater from a neighbor. He denied ever being with Paul Bickford, 996 01:11:10.239 --> 01:11:13.239 despite telling his partner that the two had been drinking 997 01:11:13.279 --> 01:11:18.199 together at a round lunch time. On the day William 998 01:11:18.239 --> 01:11:21.279 went missing, a man was walking his dog around the 999 01:11:21.359 --> 01:11:25.920 bush tracks near Queen's Lake in Loreton. He looked over 1000 01:11:26.119 --> 01:11:29.199 and noticed a tanned man with a mustache sitting in 1001 01:11:29.239 --> 01:11:33.920 a parked car with fogged up windows. Something about the 1002 01:11:33.960 --> 01:11:39.119 way the man was acting seemed suspicious. The dog walker 1003 01:11:39.199 --> 01:11:42.039 waved at the man, who quickly wound up his window 1004 01:11:42.119 --> 01:11:46.399 in response. When the dog walker returned from his stroll, 1005 01:11:46.880 --> 01:11:50.960 the car and the man were gone. He didn't think 1006 01:11:51.039 --> 01:11:54.039 much of it until he saw Tony Jones in the 1007 01:11:54.079 --> 01:11:58.319 newspaper eight months later and immediately recognized him as the 1008 01:11:58.399 --> 01:12:03.159 occupant of the vehicle. What's more, the car in question 1009 01:12:03.520 --> 01:12:09.760 was an old white Toyota Camry station wagon. Jones denied 1010 01:12:09.960 --> 01:12:14.000 being near Queen's Lake that day. He said it couldn't 1011 01:12:14.000 --> 01:12:17.119 have been him as he had amphysema and couldn't sit 1012 01:12:17.159 --> 01:12:21.800 in a car with the windows rolled up. Debby's white 1013 01:12:21.840 --> 01:12:25.560 station Wagon was towed and taken in for forensic testing, 1014 01:12:26.079 --> 01:12:31.600 but nothing of interest to the William Tyrell investigation was found. However, 1015 01:12:32.079 --> 01:12:35.279 it wasn't the only vehicle that could be linked to Jones. 1016 01:12:36.720 --> 01:12:39.560 Police later received a tip off from someone who had 1017 01:12:39.600 --> 01:12:43.119 come across a silver car abandoned in the Candle bushland. 1018 01:12:44.560 --> 01:12:47.640 They recognized it as the same make and model as 1019 01:12:47.680 --> 01:12:52.920 a vehicle belonging to Jones. The informant led police to 1020 01:12:53.000 --> 01:12:56.399 the area, but when they got to the location, they 1021 01:12:56.439 --> 01:12:59.960 found that the car had been overturned and set on fire. 1022 01:13:02.359 --> 01:13:07.800 Jones's companion, Paul Bickford, also denied any involvement in William's disappearance. 1023 01:13:09.199 --> 01:13:12.399 He claimed he wasn't with Tony Jones on September twelve 1024 01:13:12.439 --> 01:13:16.039 at all, but forty one kilometers away in Port Macquarie, 1025 01:13:16.159 --> 01:13:21.239 Having lunch with Franz, although he couldn't recall which friends 1026 01:13:21.800 --> 01:13:27.720 or where they ate. In a bizarre coincidence, Bill Spedding 1027 01:13:27.760 --> 01:13:30.800 and Tony Jones had once lived across the street from 1028 01:13:30.840 --> 01:13:34.880 one another. Police hoped that by pairing them in a 1029 01:13:34.920 --> 01:13:37.800 cell together, one of them might be compelled to say 1030 01:13:37.840 --> 01:13:42.720 something incriminating to the other about William Tyrrell. But the 1031 01:13:42.800 --> 01:13:46.760 plan didn't work, and three months after Bill Spedding's arrest 1032 01:13:46.920 --> 01:13:50.960 for the unrelated child sex crimes, he was granted conditional 1033 01:13:51.039 --> 01:13:56.359 bail and allowed to return home pending trial. News of 1034 01:13:56.439 --> 01:14:00.159 his arrest had made national headlines with the inference that 1035 01:14:00.199 --> 01:14:04.680 he was the prime suspect in William's abduction. This had 1036 01:14:04.720 --> 01:14:08.960 a hugely detrimental impact on Spedding's family and business, and 1037 01:14:09.039 --> 01:14:11.399 he took it upon himself to try to change the 1038 01:14:11.399 --> 01:14:16.479 public's perception. Within days of his release from jail, a 1039 01:14:16.640 --> 01:14:23.279 video appeared online. Reading from a pre prepared script. Spedding 1040 01:14:23.359 --> 01:14:27.159 offered his condolences to William's family and stated that he 1041 01:14:27.239 --> 01:14:32.439 had no involvement whatsoever in the young boy's disappearance, but 1042 01:14:32.680 --> 01:14:36.319 the damage to his reputation was already done, with many 1043 01:14:36.479 --> 01:14:40.640 thinking the bizarre video did nothing but further solidify his guilt. 1044 01:14:45.560 --> 01:14:49.279 In September twenty fifteen, as the one year anniversary of 1045 01:14:49.319 --> 01:14:54.079 William's disappearance approached, police released details about the two cars 1046 01:14:54.159 --> 01:14:57.439 Angela had seen on Benaruon Drive on the morning William 1047 01:14:57.479 --> 01:15:01.760 went missing. For the first time. Many questioned why they 1048 01:15:01.800 --> 01:15:05.039 had waited so long to do this, as vital witness 1049 01:15:05.079 --> 01:15:09.720 accounts could be forgotten due to the time lapsed. The 1050 01:15:09.800 --> 01:15:13.880 recording of Angela's call to emergency services was also released 1051 01:15:14.000 --> 01:15:17.119 in the hopes it might elicit an emotional response and 1052

01:15:17.279 --> 01:15:22.439 prompt a new witness to come forward. To mark the 1053 01:15:22.479 --> 01:15:26.600 anniversary and to support the ongoing search, thousands of people 1054 01:15:26.720 --> 01:15:32.239 participated in community walks held across the country. Organizers of 1055 01:15:32.279 --> 01:15:35.399 the Walk for William Evance hoped the show of support 1056 01:15:35.399 --> 01:15:39.399 would encourage somebody to come forward with information, with one 1057 01:15:39.479 --> 01:15:45.039 walk held as far away as Canada. Detective Inspector Gary 1058 01:15:45.119 --> 01:15:48.159 Jubilin had been working tirelessly on the case and to 1059 01:15:48.199 --> 01:15:52.840 the anniversary was a rude awakening. By this point, the 1060 01:15:52.880 --> 01:15:56.840 strike force had been presented with every possible theory, from 1061 01:15:56.840 --> 01:16:01.479 the credible to the ludicrous, with thousands of lines of 1062 01:16:01.520 --> 01:16:04.760 inquiry still to be followed. There weren't enough hands on 1063 01:16:04.880 --> 01:16:08.399 deck or hours in the day, and the work continued 1064 01:16:08.479 --> 01:16:14.520 to pile up. Detective Jubilan remarked to the press, the 1065 01:16:14.560 --> 01:16:17.840 anniversary is a milestone that no one in the community 1066 01:16:17.960 --> 01:16:22.119 or family wanted to reach. Twelve months without finding out 1067 01:16:22.119 --> 01:16:26.000 what happened to William. From a police point of view, 1068 01:16:26.279 --> 01:16:30.079 that plays very heavily on us, we feel like we've 1069 01:16:30.159 --> 01:16:36.239 let them down. By December that year, the strike force 1070 01:16:36.399 --> 01:16:41.479 was no closer to finding answers. William's foster parents released 1071 01:16:41.479 --> 01:16:45.039 a Christmas poem to keep the case in the public consciousness. 1072 01:16:45.840 --> 01:16:50.640 It read, in part, Christmas is a time for happiness. 1073 01:16:50.920 --> 01:16:54.079 It's a time when families come together and hold each 1074 01:16:54.079 --> 01:16:58.239 other tight. But not our family, and not this Christmas night, 1075 01:16:58.880 --> 01:17:03.279 while our beautiful boy William is still missing, absent from 1076 01:17:03.359 --> 01:17:08.239 our sight. We love you, our darling boy. You were 1077 01:17:08.279 --> 01:17:13.319 never far from our thoughts. We remember everything about you, 1078 01:17:13.319 --> 01:17:16.880 your amazing laugh, your kindness and the love you share 1079 01:17:16.960 --> 01:17:21.239 with your sister, Your complete adoration of your Daddy, your 1080 01:17:21.279 --> 01:17:26.239 funny faces for Mummy, your kisses, your hugs and your tears. 1081 01:17:27.199 --> 01:17:32.000 We remember your first words, your first steps, your first fears. 1082 01:17:33.560 --> 01:17:40.439 We miss everything about you, our beautiful little boy. Although 1083 01:17:40.520 --> 01:17:43.640 Peter and Angela had been cleared from the investigation in 1084 01:17:43.680 --> 01:17:47.439 its very early stages, some among the strike force thought 1085 01:17:47.479 --> 01:17:49.840 it was worth looking into them again to be one 1086 01:17:49.960 --> 01:17:55.039 hundred percent sure. Some questions had arisen about a possible 1087 01:17:55.079 --> 01:18:01.039 inconsistency in Angela's story. In police interviews, she had claimed 1088 01:18:01.159 --> 01:18:05.560 that William was wearing shoes at the time he went missing. However, 1089 01:18:05.840 --> 01:18:08.600 in the photos she'd taken of William at nine thirty 1090 01:18:08.600 --> 01:18:13.199 seven am, just minutes before he disappeared, he'd been barefoot. 1091 01:18:14.520 --> 01:18:18.119 His shoes a pair of sandals with vulcro straps, sat 1092 01:18:18.239 --> 01:18:22.479 near the back door. Members of the public had also 1093 01:18:22.640 --> 01:18:27.199 responded negatively to the recording of her call to police. 1094 01:18:27.359 --> 01:18:30.399 Many thought she sounded much too calm for a mother 1095 01:18:30.479 --> 01:18:36.039 whose child had just gone missing. The couple were summoned 1096 01:18:36.079 --> 01:18:38.640 to the police station under the guise of it being 1097 01:18:38.680 --> 01:18:43.840 a routine appointment. Once they arrived, they were separated and 1098 01:18:44.000 --> 01:18:49.399 interrogated at length about the day of William's disappearance. Detective 1099 01:18:49.479 --> 01:18:55.600 Jubilant went hard on them. Asked about the shoes, Angela 1100 01:18:55.680 --> 01:18:59.039 said William had been barefoot when she took the photos, 1101 01:18:59.399 --> 01:19:01.920 but she had told him to put shoes on, which 1102 01:19:01.960 --> 01:19:04.960 he was capable of doing on his own because there 1103 01:19:04.960 --> 01:19:10.720 were prickly weeds and dog feces in the grass. Unbeknownst 1104 01:19:10.840 --> 01:19:14.279 to the couple, while all this was going down, covert 1105 01:19:14.359 --> 01:19:18.560 listening devices were placed in their car. If Peter and 1106 01:19:18.640 --> 01:19:22.199 Angela had anything to hide, police hoped that they might 1107 01:19:22.279 --> 01:19:26.680 divulge something important as they discussed what they'd just experienced 1108 01:19:26.800 --> 01:19:31.439 on their drive home, but both of their stories remained 1109 01:19:31.520 --> 01:19:35.800 unchanged and nothing of interest was captured in the covert recordings. 1110 01:19:37.439 --> 01:19:41.239 Detective Jubilan was confident that there was absolutely no evidence 1111 01:19:41.279 --> 01:19:45.079 that raised any suspicion in regards to their involvement, and 1112 01:19:45.159 --> 01:19:54.359 again they were eliminated from the investigation. By September twenty sixteen, 1113 01:19:54.720 --> 01:19:57.239 the search for William Tyrrell had become one of the 1114 01:19:57.359 --> 01:20:01.800 largest eva in Australian history. A second arm of the 1115 01:20:01.840 --> 01:20:05.039 Strike

Force was established purely to work through the one 1116 01:20:05.119 --> 01:20:09.079 thousand plus names that police had identified as potential persons 1117 01:20:09.079 --> 01:20:13.359 of interest. Detectives were required to travel all over the 1118 01:20:13.399 --> 01:20:16.880 country to locate each individual and cross them off the list. 1119 01:20:17.640 --> 01:20:20.640 But despite the epic scale of work being put in, 1120 01:20:21.079 --> 01:20:27.840 the investigation continued with no significant breakthroughs. Strike Force detectives 1121 01:20:27.920 --> 01:20:31.239 wanted to offer a reward for information, but they knew 1122 01:20:31.239 --> 01:20:33.600 what would need to be a sizeable amount of money 1123 01:20:33.640 --> 01:20:37.800 if it was going to encourage anyone to speak. As 1124 01:20:37.920 --> 01:20:41.600 Detective Jubilan explained, it would need to be enough money 1125 01:20:41.640 --> 01:20:44.840 to make a wife turn against her husband or for 1126 01:20:44.960 --> 01:20:50.239 one pedophile to betray another. With support from the New 1127 01:20:50.239 --> 01:20:54.159 South Wales Police Commissioner and the state Premier, they got 1128 01:20:54.199 --> 01:20:59.520 their wish. On the second anniversary of William Tyrell's disappearance, 1129 01:21:00.079 --> 01:21:04.920 one million dollar reward was announced. At the time, it 1130 01:21:05.039 --> 01:21:08.359 was the largest reward ever offered in New South Wales, 1131 01:21:08.640 --> 01:21:12.520 and the announcement was broadcast heavily on television and shared 1132 01:21:12.560 --> 01:21:18.159 across social media. When nobody tried to claim it, investigators 1133 01:21:18.239 --> 01:21:23.479 drew two conclusions. Either William's abductor had acted alone and 1134 01:21:23.720 --> 01:21:26.880 not told a soul, or if more than one person 1135 01:21:26.960 --> 01:21:30.239 had been involved, none of the offenders were prepared to 1136 01:21:30.359 --> 01:21:36.079 rap the others out. The Strike Force continued questioning known 1137 01:21:36.159 --> 01:21:40.920 sex offenders and pedophiles. Some officers were given the grim 1138 01:21:41.000 --> 01:21:45.119 task of viewing child exploitation material in case William could 1139 01:21:45.119 --> 01:21:47.439 be identified in footage or photographs. 1140 01:21:48.680 --> 01:21:50.279 It was a brutal job. 1141 01:21:50.159 --> 01:21:53.680 That took a severe emotional toll, but members of the 1142 01:21:53.720 --> 01:21:58.720 strike Force persevered with one ultimate goal to bring William 1143 01:21:58.800 --> 01:22:09.079 Tyrrell home. In mid twenty sixteen, the Department of Housing 1144 01:22:09.239 --> 01:22:12.600 received an application that made them stop in their tracks. 1145 01:22:13.960 --> 01:22:17.000 A woman named Kim Loki had applied for a home 1146 01:22:17.079 --> 01:22:22.319 in Sydney, citing William Tyrrell's biological grandmother, Tracy Martin, not 1147 01:22:22.479 --> 01:22:27.359

her real name, as her intended roommate. The two women 1148 01:22:27.439 --> 01:22:31.079 had worked together in the past and had recently rekindled 1149 01:22:31.119 --> 01:22:34.720 their friendship, with Kim posting photos of herself and to 1150 01:22:34.800 --> 01:22:40.479 Tracy together online to acknowledge their bond. But there was 1151 01:22:40.520 --> 01:22:43.840 something that rang alarm bells for the Department of Housing. 1152 01:22:45.399 --> 01:22:48.680 Kim had applied for a three bedroom house, even though 1153 01:22:48.720 --> 01:22:52.159 she stated that she and Tracy would be the only occupants. 1154 01:22:53.359 --> 01:22:56.800 When William had been a baby and his biological parents 1155 01:22:56.800 --> 01:23:00.680 had hidden him from the authorities, Tracy Martin had apparently 1156 01:23:00.800 --> 01:23:05.680 helped them. This led the department to question whether that 1157 01:23:05.760 --> 01:23:10.600 third bedroom was intended for William. Perhaps Kim had been 1158 01:23:10.640 --> 01:23:16.560 helping hide him all along. The department notified the police, 1159 01:23:16.680 --> 01:23:22.279 who placed Kim under covert surveillance. What they discovered was shocking. 1160 01:23:23.720 --> 01:23:27.640 Kim drove a gray Holden Commodore Sedan similar in color 1161 01:23:27.680 --> 01:23:30.720 and shape to one of the vehicles Angela claimed to 1162 01:23:30.800 --> 01:23:34.960 have spotted on Benarum Drive on the day of William's disappearance. 1163 01:23:36.439 --> 01:23:40.880 Kim was also a former customer of Bill Spedding, having 1164 01:23:40.960 --> 01:23:44.439 hired him to fix her washing machine several years prior. 1165 01:23:45.960 --> 01:23:49.960 But perhaps most alarming, one of Kim's flatmates had a 1166 01:23:50.000 --> 01:23:53.560 notable brother in law person of interest in the William 1167 01:23:53.600 --> 01:24:00.640 Tyrell case, convicted sex offender Tony Jones. She also friends 1168 01:24:00.680 --> 01:24:06.920 with the Joneses now ex partner Debbie. When questioned about 1169 01:24:06.960 --> 01:24:11.880 her whereabouts on Friday September twelve, twenty fourteen, Kim Loki 1170 01:24:11.960 --> 01:24:15.359 claimed she was at home in Sydney, some three hundred 1171 01:24:15.399 --> 01:24:19.399 and sixty kilometers from Kendall, but she had nothing to 1172 01:24:19.560 --> 01:24:25.119 verify her alibi. Her explanation for wanting a third bedroom 1173 01:24:25.359 --> 01:24:29.560 was that she needed a studio for her art. Kim 1174 01:24:29.680 --> 01:24:33.000 appeared on Channel nine's A Current Affair program to deny 1175 01:24:33.159 --> 01:24:38.800 having anything to do with William's disappearance. She rejected allegations 1176 01:24:38.840 --> 01:24:42.399 that it was her car seen on benirun Drive, stating 1177 01:24:43.600 --> 01:24:46.880 I wouldn't be gained to do stuff like that, kidnapping 1178 01:24:46.920 --> 01:24:53.159 a little kid. The heat was placed on William's biological grandmother, 1179 01:24:53.319 --> 01:24:59.720 Tracy Martin, until another twist emerged. Tracy wasn't close friends 1180 01:24:59.760 --> 01:25:03.359 with Hi Kim Loki at all. The two women were 1181 01:25:03.399 --> 01:25:08.399 nothing more than former work colleagues. Kim had used photos 1182 01:25:08.439 --> 01:25:11.479 of them taken at a work function years prior as 1183 01:25:11.640 --> 01:25:15.680 testimony to their friendship and had simply wanted to ingratiate 1184 01:25:15.760 --> 01:25:21.039 herself into the William Tyrell investigation. She tried to sue 1185 01:25:21.079 --> 01:25:24.119 a current affair for money they promised her for the interview, 1186 01:25:24.640 --> 01:25:32.159 but the case was thrown out of court. The fact 1187 01:25:32.239 --> 01:25:35.680 that William was a foster child had been publicly discussed 1188 01:25:35.680 --> 01:25:39.399 online by those invested in the case, but by mid 1189 01:25:39.479 --> 01:25:45.560 twenty seventeen, this fact still hadn't been officially clarified. It 1190 01:25:45.640 --> 01:25:49.920 continued to muddy public perception, with sympathy for the anonymous 1191 01:25:49.960 --> 01:25:53.439 family slowly dissipating in the eyes of those who viewed 1192 01:25:53.479 --> 01:25:58.359 them as detached. A woman who wasn't connected to either 1193 01:25:58.439 --> 01:26:01.439 of the families in any way took it upon herself 1194 01:26:01.560 --> 01:26:06.439 to fight to make this detail public. Having been sexually 1195 01:26:06.439 --> 01:26:09.960 assaulted in a foster home during her own adolescence, the 1196 01:26:10.000 --> 01:26:13.760 woman became an advocate for other foster children and believed 1197 01:26:13.840 --> 01:26:16.159 the public had a right to know the truth about 1198 01:26:16.199 --> 01:26:22.000 William's family situation. The case went to court, where lawyers 1199 01:26:22.039 --> 01:26:25.479 for the Department of Family and Community Services argued that 1200 01:26:25.520 --> 01:26:28.880 there was a stigma attached to being a foster child. 1201 01:26:29.560 --> 01:26:33.000 If William was ever found alive, this stigma would follow 1202 01:26:33.079 --> 01:26:37.720 him for life. Likewise, his sister Lindsey would suffer from 1203 01:26:37.720 --> 01:26:42.720 the same stigma. William's foster parents agreed that they wanted 1204 01:26:42.720 --> 01:26:48.840 to keep this information secret, along with their identities. Up 1205 01:26:48.920 --> 01:26:53.279 until this point, William's biological parents, Amy Tyrrell and Tyler 1206 01:26:53.359 --> 01:26:57.000 Martin had mostly been kept on the sidelines of the investigation. 1207 01:26:58.479 --> 01:27:02.439 They didn't receive the same regular updates as his foster parents, 1208 01:27:02.680 --> 01:27:06.159 weren't acknowledged in the media, and had been excluded from 1209 01:27:06.199 --> 01:27:10.039 the national public relations campaign aimed at bringing awareness to 1210

01:27:10.119 --> 01:27:14.520 the case. However, they had always wanted it to be 1211 01:27:14.560 --> 01:27:17.920 publicly known that William was in fostercare at the time 1212 01:27:18.000 --> 01:27:23.239 he went missing. The judge agreed that the public had 1213 01:27:23.319 --> 01:27:26.880 been misled to believe that Peter and Angela were William 1214 01:27:26.920 --> 01:27:32.600 Tyrrell's biological parents. In a landmark decision, he lifted the 1215 01:27:32.640 --> 01:27:36.920 restrictions that prevented this fact from being reported, ruling that 1216 01:27:36.960 --> 01:27:40.960 William being in fostercare was a legitimate matter of public interest. 1217 01:27:42.439 --> 01:27:45.520 For the first time since William went missing, the names 1218 01:27:45.560 --> 01:27:48.960 of his biological parents were allowed to be shared, while 1219 01:27:49.000 --> 01:27:52.520 the names of his foster parents and sister continued to 1220 01:27:52.560 --> 01:27:58.399 be suppressed by a court order. Afterwards, Amy Tyrrell appeared 1221 01:27:58.399 --> 01:28:02.600 on national television for the fore time in a heartfelt 1222 01:28:02.600 --> 01:28:06.359 interview with the television presenter Melissa Doyle for Channel seven's 1223 01:28:06.439 --> 01:28:10.560 Sunday Night program. She admitted to having made poor choices 1224 01:28:10.600 --> 01:28:13.279 in the past, but said she was trying to be 1225 01:28:13.359 --> 01:28:16.800 the best mum she could be. No longer in a 1226 01:28:16.840 --> 01:28:21.079 relationship with Tyler Martin, Amy said William and Lindsey shouldn't 1227 01:28:21.079 --> 01:28:23.399 have been taken away from her in the first place. 1228 01:28:24.800 --> 01:28:28.119 She believed the whole situation could have been improved if 1229 01:28:28.159 --> 01:28:30.920 there had just been better support for mothers who were 1230 01:28:30.960 --> 01:28:38.039 experiencing domestic violence. Amy cried as she fondly recounted memories 1231 01:28:38.039 --> 01:28:42.039 of William as a baby. She spoke of how difficult 1232 01:28:42.159 --> 01:28:45.479 the experience of losing him twice had been, and how 1233 01:28:45.600 --> 01:28:48.159 much it hurt her to know that William and Lindsey 1234 01:28:48.319 --> 01:28:53.359 were no longer together. Sobbing, she begged whoever had her 1235 01:28:53.439 --> 01:28:57.880 son to bring him home unharmed, saying whoever was responsible 1236 01:28:58.079 --> 01:29:04.640 quote needs a bullet. Whatever had happened to William. Amy 1237 01:29:04.720 --> 01:29:09.560 believed that his foster parents should feel guilty. I don't 1238 01:29:09.600 --> 01:29:12.920 want to blame the Carrors, she said, but they were 1239 01:29:12.960 --> 01:29:21.039 responsible for looking after William and they failed. As police 1240 01:29:21.079 --> 01:29:23.960 continued to make their way through the long list of 1241 01:29:24.039 --> 01:29:28.199 persons of interest, when speaking with Kendall locals, one name 1242 01:29:28.279 --> 01:29:33.479 in particular kept coming up. The individual lived a reclusive 1243 01:29:33.560 --> 01:29:37.640 lifestyle in an overgrown property near Benaruon Drive, and some 1244 01:29:37.800 --> 01:29:43.159 people thought he was worth looking into. Police arrived at 1245 01:29:43.159 --> 01:29:48.439 the man's house and what they found was disturbing. Outside, 1246 01:29:48.840 --> 01:29:54.479 animal carcasses hung from pieces of string. Inside was even creepier. 1247 01:29:56.000 --> 01:29:58.680 At the end of the man's bad a shrine of 1248 01:29:58.760 --> 01:30:03.560 sorts had been made to William Tyrrell. It featured photos 1249 01:30:03.560 --> 01:30:06.880 of William along with quotes about the investigation that had 1250 01:30:06.880 --> 01:30:10.319 been cut from the newspaper, as well as handwritten poetry 1251 01:30:10.399 --> 01:30:16.600 about the case. Due to the man's unconventional lifestyle, police 1252 01:30:16.680 --> 01:30:20.119 nicknamed him Gorillas in the Mist, after the book and 1253 01:30:20.279 --> 01:30:23.640 film of the same name, about an American scientist who 1254 01:30:23.760 --> 01:30:27.560 moved to the remote forests of Rwanda to study primates. 1255 01:30:29.039 --> 01:30:33.439 Police questioned Gorillas in the Myst extensively, but found nothing 1256 01:30:33.479 --> 01:30:38.439 to suggest he was involved in William's abduction. If anything, 1257 01:30:38.840 --> 01:30:45.359 they thought he seemed lonely and appreciated the police company. However, 1258 01:30:45.720 --> 01:30:49.560 there were certain things about his behavior that they deemed concerning. 1259 01:30:51.039 --> 01:30:54.439 Not wanting to take any chances, the police decided to 1260 01:30:54.479 --> 01:30:58.159 put Gorillas in the Mist under surveillance by installing hidden 1261 01:30:58.159 --> 01:31:03.560 cameras in the bush surrounding his property. Before long, one 1262 01:31:03.600 --> 01:31:08.560 of the cameras went missing. Police had no idea what 1263 01:31:08.720 --> 01:31:12.199 had happened to it until six weeks later, when it 1264 01:31:12.319 --> 01:31:50.119 suddenly reappeared under strange circumstances. To be continued, check out 1265 01:31:50.119 --> 01:31:54.840 the newest case file present series Julie's Gone. Julie's Gone 1266 01:31:54.960 --> 01:31:59.439 investigates the disappearance of nineteen year old Julianne Garcia Salay 1267 01:32:00.079 --> 01:32:04.159 went missing from her Melbourne apartment in July nineteen seventy five. 1268 01:32:04.920 --> 01:32:08.560 Julie had only recently arrived in Australia from the US. 1269 01:32:09.359 --> 01:32:13.840 Now five decades later, Helen Thomas has uncovered new evidence, 1270 01:32:14.039 --> 01:32:18.079 witnesses and fresh leads in one of Australia's most haunting 1271 01:32:18.159 --> 01:32:23.199 cold cases. Julie's Gone is available now wherever you get 1272 01:32:23.239 --> 01:32:24.159 your podcasts.