William could be alive: cop

MISSING boy William Tyrrell could still be alive — and his family “deserve better”, according to the former top detective who headed the investigation for four years.

Gary Jubelin, who was removed from the case in controversial circumstances, is appealing a conviction and $10,000 fine for illegally recording a person of interest.

Jubelin, who continues to justify his actions, said he was “devastated” the 2014 case remained unsolved, adding that “every possible thing that can be done should be done to solve that crime”.

The 58-year-old, who has previously slammed a lack of resources and flaws in the investigation, said police wrangling over his role had let William’s relatives down.

“The families deserve better. And I’m talking the foster family and the biological family, (who) deserve better than these internal squabbles going on with the police over this matter. There was so many resources put to the investigation into me. I would love to see those resources put into the investigation into William Tyrrell (pictured).”

Jubelin had recorded conversations with Paul Savage, an elderly neighbour of William’s foster-grandparents in the town of Kendall. Mr Savage is no longer considered a person of interest by police. For Jubelin, it is a pressing matter that after all this time, “I can’t say definitively that William’s dead … It’s a possibility, be it remote, that he’s still alive. We need to find out what’s happened to William.”

The case features prominently in Jubelin’s long-anticipated autobiography I Catch Killers, out tomorrow.

Jubelin stressed that despite his frustrations he does not claim he would have solved the

Tyrrell mystery, heading “in the tion”.

Nor was he critical of all higher police decisions, but he believes top brass failed to see the case for what it was.

“Where I think that the police probably took their eye off the ball (was) they didn’t realise what the William Tyrrell investigation was. It is a oncein-a-generation crime and it’s not going to go away. It’s a Madeleine Mccann matter.” but he was right direc