Mother’s triple-0 call released in search for William Tyrrell
The search for NSW boy William Tyrrell, who went missing on this day eight years ago, continues. Photo: AAP
NSW Police have released a recording of the triple-0 call three-year-old William Tyrrell’s mother made moments after she realised her son was missing.
Officers suspect William was abducted while playing outside his grandmother’s house at Kendall, on the New South Wales mid north coast, on September 12 last year.
“It’s the call no parent would ever want to make – calling triple-0 and reporting your child missing,” Detective Inspector Gary Jubelin said.
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“Put yourself in the shoes of William’s mum. If you know anything, you must come forward.”
Detective Inspector Jubelin said they were hoping for an emotional response from the community to the call, prompting anyone sitting on information to come forward.
In the recording, William’s mother gives a physical description of her son, telling the triple-0 operator the family has been looking for the boy for about 15 minutes.
“We heard him roaring around the garden,” she says.
“Then I thought, ‘Oh, I haven’t heard him, I better go check on him’. And I couldn’t find him.
“It is completely out of character.”
Detective Inspector Jubelin said that, a year on, the family were going through a “living nightmare”.
“I speak to them regularly and keep them informed on the progress that we are making with the investigation as it goes along,” he told 702 ABC Sydney.
“But the longer it goes on, the more difficult it becomes for them. They are remarkably stoic in the way they are dealing with this situation. A crime like this, it’s just something that shouldn’t happen.”
Two cars parked opposite house raise suspicions
Police have also appealed for information about two cars – described as a dark grey old-model, medium-size sedan and an old white station wagon – that were parked opposite the house on the day William disappeared.
Detective Inspector Jubelin said there were questions about the cars that police wanted answered.
It took just minutes for William Tyrrell to disappear from his mother’s view. Photo: ABC
“The circumstances in which those cars were found – one parked behind the other with their windows down – raised our suspicions in that they were parked between the driveways [on the street],” he said.
“There seemed to be absolutely no purpose as to why they would be parked in that manner.
“You’re looking at a semi-rural area, and it was a dead-end street. To attend out there, there would have to be a reason.”
Detective Inspector Jubelin said that, from the spot where the cars were parked, a driver would have had a clear view of William playing outside his grandmother’s house.
Officers also want to identify another two vehicles that were seen travelling in Benaroon Drive around the time William was last seen.
One was described as a dark green or greyish-coloured sedan.
“That drove past the driveway of 48 Benaroon Drive, when William and his sister were riding their bikes on the driveway on the morning of his disappearance,” Detective Inspector Jubelin said.
“That vehicle did a u-turn shortly after driving past the driveway, then drove out of Benaroon Drive.
Police say two vehicles were parked across the road from William’s grandmother’s home on Benaroon Drive on the day he went missing. Photo: ABC
“We also have reports of a four-wheel-drive leaving Benaroon Drive around the time that William disappeared.”
He said investigators were interested in any information regarding a four-wheel-drive in the area due to independent information received.
“[That information was about a] four-wheel-drive that was speeding in the vicinity of Benaroon Drive, shortly after the time of William’s disappearance,” Detective Inspector Jubelin said.
Police have urged anyone to pass on any suspicions they have about a person to investigators.
“If someone reacts slightly strange, when the topic of William Tyrrell comes up, or if someone talks incessantly about William Tyrrell, those types of suspicions, if you have those suspicions pass them onto police and we will follow them up,” Detective Inspector Jubelin said.
This Saturday will mark one year since the disappearance of William, who would now be four years old.
Detective Inspector Jubelin said “it’s certainly an anniversary I hoped we wouldn’t be marking”.