The devastating theory that detectives say solves the William Tyrrell mystery – and why he’s still never been found, ten years after his disappearance

The inquiry into William Tyrrell’s disappearance will examine police’s theory that his foster mother buried his body in bushland after falling from a balcony and died the morning he disappeared.

“That’s the reason we’re here,” defense counsel Gerard Craddock SC told the resumed hearing into the death of the three-year-old, who was last seen in Kendall on the NSW north coast in 2014.

‘The theory [is that] Willem must have died in [his foster grandmother’s home at] 48 Benaroon Drive [in Kendall]Mr Craddock said.

“The theory… Police claim they must have quickly concluded that if William’s accidental death was discovered, they could lose ‘Lindsay’.”

Lindsay – not her real name, which cannot be revealed for legal reasons – was another foster child in the care of the foster mother at the time, who also cannot be named.

‘The police claim that in that state of mind, [the foster mother] placed William in her mother’s car,” Mr Craddock said.

‘After warning [a neighbour] until the disappearance of William, [she] drove her mother’s car to Batar Creek Road and placed William’s body somewhere in the brush.”

Mr Craddock told the hearing on Monday that the foster mother could not remember an exact time she drove out of the house in her mother’s car after the boy disappeared on the morning of September 12, 2014.

The inquest into the disappearance of William Tyrrell will investigate police’s theory that his foster mother buried his body in bushland after falling from a balcony.

William’s foster parents attend the hearings, as do detectives from Strike Force Rosann and the boss, Detective Chief Inspector David Laidlaw

Police search Kendall’s home in 2021 where William disappeared in 2014, suspecting he may have fallen from the balcony in an accident

The inquest’s lead lawyer also told Monday’s hearing that he could not confirm the foster mother’s claims that she had seen “strange cars” on the street.

Both William’s biological father and his foster parents attend the hearings, as do detectives from Strike Force Rosann and its boss, Chief Inspector David Laidlaw.

The long-running investigation into the 10-year mystery will also feature Professor Jon Olley, a water science expert who was on the scene during the renewed hunt for a toddler’s body in a new dig organized in 2021 .

Mr Craddock said the area around Batar Creek Road had been extensively searched by police, who did not believe any trace of William had been left there.

He also said the search for William following his disappearance – involving police, fire brigades, cadaver dogs, chainsaws and hydraulic equipment – ​​meant the little boy was not simply lost in the search area.

“William could not travel outside the area of ​​the intensive search under his own power,” he said. ‘The conclusion that there must have been human intervention.

“It is undisputed that no eyewitness can provide an account of how he left the confines of 48 Benaroon Drive.”

The inquest, which began in 2019 but has been plagued by lengthy delays, has now entered its final block of hearings, due to be held this week and more than two weeks just before Christmas.

William’s disappearance has become one of Australia’s most notorious missing persons cases.

The inquest before Deputy State Coroner Harriet Grahame – which investigated William’s disappearance and suspected death – was postponed last year as prosecutors weighed charges against the boy’s foster mother.

The inquest into the disappearance of three-year-old William Tyrrell (above) has resumed for the final series of hearings in November and December

One police theory is that William fell from the porch of his foster grandmother’s Kendal home and that his body was then allegedly thrown away by his foster mother (above, with the foster father)

William’s foster mother and father have consistently denied accusations that they played a role in his disappearance or any wrongdoing.

The inquest originally began in 2019 and lasted 18 months before it was adjourned in October 2020 and Ms Grahame’s findings were due to be announced in June 2021.

The inquest was postponed to allow police to begin the new investigation in late 2021, which involved searching new locations in Kendall.

During the new dig, teams searched the garden of his foster grandmother’s home and nearby bushland but reported finding nothing of significance.

The inquest was then postponed again while prosecutors weighed evidence relating to the missing boy’s foster mother.

Last year, police presented a piece of evidence to the Director of Public Prosecutions recommending that William’s foster mother be charged with perverting the course of justice and interfering with a corpse.

Around that time, the foster parents’ attorney, Rylie Hahn, called on police to make all evidence public.

“William’s foster mother and foster father are in a position to call for the disclosure of evidence that police suggest is the basis of criminal proceedings,” Ms Hahn said last year.

‘We are half way through the inquest and William is still missing and his case is unsolved.

‘William’s foster mother insists she had nothing to do with his disappearance… and asks police to continue searching for William and what happened to him.’

Ms Grahame subsequently received a letter from the DPP in August this year, setting out the status of that request for advice.

Professor Jon Olley, a water science expert, at the 2021 exhumation of William Tyrrell, has been called as a witness in the latest round of hearings

William Tyrrell, dressed as his favorite character, in a photo not long before he disappeared while playing with his grandmother and sister on the veranda in Kendall, on the NSW Mid North Coast

In the letter, Director of Public Prosecutions Sally Dowling SC said NSW Police had asked her office in April to “suspend” its request for advice until the end of the final block of hearings.

In 2022, William’s foster mother was found not guilty of lying to the NSW Crime Commission.

In November last year, William’s foster father was also cleared of five charges of lying to the NSW Crime Commission.

The court was told at the time that during the Crime Commission hearing, assistant solicitor Sophie Callan SC questioned the foster mother about whether William had fallen from the balcony and she had thrown away the body.

The couple denied any wrongdoing or disposing of his corpse.