Ten years after the disappearance of three-year-old William Tyrrell, we may never know what happened

William Tyrrell had a bright smile and an infectious giggle. He danced, painted pictures and rode his bike.

The three-year-old with the cheeky grin loved Bananas in Pyjamas, Fireman Sam and, of course, Spider-Man.

William should be starting high school about now.

Instead, to those who searched for him and those who loved him, William will forever remain a toddler.

Ellen Bott was one of the first to join the search for the little boy in September 2014.

At that time she had a son of about the same age.

“Everyone wanted to help, we were all angry,” said Ms Bott.

“I think there were about eight of us girls, close friends, who all went out, and men in four-by-fours drove off and searched the bush tracks.”

On September 12, the day of Williams' disappearance, the news spread like hot cakes in the small community of Kendall.

It was a Friday morning in early spring and William had been playing at his foster grandmother's house in a quiet cul-de-sac on the outskirts of a village on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales.

A search party consisting of locals, police and State Emergency Service (SES) volunteers was quickly assembled and combed the city's streets and bushland.

“We tried everything to find him.”

Just down the street, Kendall Café owner Jenelle Nosworthy was busy preparing meals for those searching.

“I remember some people drinking tea in the morning. [at the cafe] and we got a call asking if we could help find a missing little boy,” she said.

“It's hard not to remember something like that, just the reaction of the public, just how everyone came together to search.”

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Early mistakes

Looking back, the investigation into Williams' disappearance was flawed from day one.

This is probably one of the many reasons why we still don't know what happened to him.

The police initially assumed that he had simply disappeared into the bush. By the time they considered another possibility, it was already too late to secure evidence at the crime scene.

The search party, family members and rescue workers searched the property in the hours following his disappearance, contaminating any forensic clues that may have been left behind.

Michelle Dalton was one of the locals who helped with the search and says today she never believed he had run away.

“They just kept saying, 'We'll find him, we'll find him.' We looked everywhere for the child.”

As a result of the Tyrrell case, New South Wales Police are now required to treat a missing child case as a possible case of abduction or murder until proven otherwise.

Criminologist Xanthe Mallett, who has followed the case closely over the past decade, said the lost evidence represented a critical gap.

“Ultimately, we will never know what evidence and witnesses were lost in those first 24 hours, which are absolutely critical in the investigation of a missing child,” she said.

“Unfortunately, you can never get that back.”

A fragmented task force, a washing machine repairman and a foster mother

In the years that followed, the team tasked with finding William, Strike Force Rosann, was plagued by internal power struggles.

In 2015, detectives targeted local washing machine repairman Bill Spedding and charged him with child sex offences, a charge he was later acquitted of.

Mr Spedding successfully sued the New South Wales Police Force last year for malicious prosecution.

Then, in 2021, another interesting person emerged: William’s foster mother.

The Strike Force made public its new theory that William had died in an accident and his death had been covered up.

A renewed search in Kendall became a media spectacle after journalists were informed of their background and police said answers could come soon, but the search remained fruitless.

Last year, investigators submitted a summary of the evidence against the foster mother to the Attorney General for review.

No charges were filed.

William's foster mother, whose name cannot be disclosed for legal reasons, has always denied knowing anything about his fate.

The controversial former lead investigator on the case, Gary Jubelin, is one of the few people successfully prosecuted by the task force, having been found guilty of illegally filming another suspect.

The evidence police have against Williams' foster mother is expected to be presented at a two-week hearing in November and December.

Dr Mallett said the evidence was unlikely to lead to charges or dismissal.

“I feel that if the police had enough evidence to charge William's foster mother in this regard, they would have done so by now,” Dr. Mallett said.

“Unfortunately, I don't think it brings us any closer to understanding what happened to William or who is responsible.”

Dr. Mallett believes the inquest can only lead to an open result, meaning the case remains unsolved and no cause of death can be determined.

“I still think about him”

While endless court cases and police intrigue played out, those who still call Kendall home cannot forget the little boy at the center of it all.

Mrs Dalton remembers when Benaroon Drive was simply “a pretty little street”.

“Now, as soon as you mention Kendall, they say, 'Oh, that little boy is missing,'” she said.

Mrs. Bott is still moved to tears when she thinks of the boy in the Spider-Man costume.

“I still think about him,” she said.

Dr Mallett said a major breakthrough was needed to solve the case.

“Sadly, I currently believe that if William's final whereabouts are ever discovered, it could be a coincidence,” she said.

“It's rare that someone commits a crime as serious as child abduction without ever telling anyone about it. So someone here knows something.

“Unless we find a new, significant lead, I fear we will never know what happened to William.”