William Tyrrell inquest: Probe into 'intensive' search for missing toddler continues

The extent of a search seven years after William Tyrrell disappeared will be examined in an inquest amid allegations of an accidental death and the disposal of his body.

The three-year-old went missing while playing on the verandah at his foster grandmother’s home in Kendall, on the NSW mid-north coast, on September 12, 2014.

The inquest examining what happened to the toddler reopened on Monday.

Counsel assisting Gerard Craddock SC said the focus would be on a police search in 2021 as well as a theory that William died in an accident on the property and that his foster mother disposed of his body before calling Triple Zero.

Mr Craddock said the alleged motive was that the woman and her husband would lose custody of another child under their care if the death was uncovered.

The foster mother, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, denies having anything to do with William’s disappearance and has never been charged in relation to it.

Police have never publicly shared any significant evidence that she could be responsible, despite sharing their theory by backgrounding the media.

Since Strike Force Rosann — responsible for investigating William’s 2014 disappearance — narrowed its focus to the foster mother more than three years ago, she has called for them to release any evidence they have against her.

In a statement to the ABC in late 2023, the foster mother’s lawyer urged prosecutors to “disclose” the evidence they have “which police suggest forms the basis of any criminal proceedings”.

“To date, William’s body has never been found. The foster mother has always, and maintains, she has nothing to do with William’s disappearance,” the statement read, ABC reports.

“She desperately urges the police to resume the investigation into finding out what happened to William.”

Mr Craddock told the court that police searches of Kendall in 2021, which were “intensive, thorough”, had failed to turn up any forensic evidence into the fate of the three-year-old.

Police handed a brief of evidence to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in 2023 to seek advice about whether there was enough evidence to charge William’s foster mother over his disappearance, the ABC reports.

This year, the DPP released a statement saying NSW Police asked the office to “suspend its consideration” of the case until after the next coronial hearings were held.

On Tuesday, Deputy State Coroner Harriet Grahame will continue to hear evidence about the 2021 search for the toddler’s body.

Senior Constable Jost Preis will discuss the methodology of the search, including the use of GPS trackers to ensure that every patch of ground was covered.

Forensic anthropologist Dr Jennifer Menzies will then take the stand to discuss the decomposition of a body and how bones are broken down or preserved in certain environmental conditions.

If time allows, additional evidence about the efforts of police to identify those in the area when William disappeared as well as the use of both search and cadaver dogs to locate him will also be heard.