‘JUSTICE FOR WILLIAM TYRRELL IS COMING’
CRIMINOLOGIST DR XANTHÉ MALLETT WRITES OFFICERS ARE CLOSER THAN EVER TO THE TRUTH
William Tyrrell, the little boy in the Spider-man suit. A name and image that resonates across Australia, and has done for seven years, since he vanished from his foster grandmother’s house in Kendall, a small town on NSW’S Mid North Coast.
A house now the focus of a new search by NSW Police, with a new person of interest named.
I have followed this case since William vanished in September 2014. I have been to the location. I have stood outside the house where he was playing. I have imagined a little boy running around, playing ‘tiger’, roaring. I have heard the silence when the roaring stopped.
And I, like everyone else, have wondered what happened to little William.
Well, according to NSW Police, we may be closer to answers than ever before. A new search of the garden beds of the house in Kendall, plus three other locations around a kilometre from the house, began this week.
The police have also, sadly, stated very directly for the first time that they are looking for William’s remains, and that they expect the new searches to produce answers as they are not in any way speculative – they are the result of strong intelligence.
This search includes new expertise not employed in this case previously, including people, such as archaeologists skilled in investigating whether anything may be buried beneath the ground.
In addition to forensic experts, around 100 police are also involved in the searches at the house and other locations.
To add to this, the foster grandmother’s car has been seized for forensic analysis.
It is hard to predict what, if anything, will come of this latest round of searches.
But what is clear is that the police are being, and being seen to be, very active in their pursuit of answers as to what happened to William.
People keep asking me what
forensic evidence would remain after seven years, and my answer is that it depends on the environment. But certainly, given the correct circumstances, trace evidence in the form of DNA and blood may still be available.
What is also clear is that even if the investigation was not ideally managed in the very early stages when William first vanished, criticism of the many dedicated police officers who worked tirelessly to discover what happened to William is unhelpful at this stage.
The focus should remain on finding William, bringing him home and making sure that whoever is responsible for his disappearance is brought to justice.