The grim reason why the mystery of William Tyrrell’s disappearance a decade ago may never be solved
William Tyrrell’s remains would have disappeared years ago even if they had not been swept away by wild animals, an inquest into his disappearance in 2014 has found.
The coroner’s inquest resumed this week to investigate the mystery of how the three-year-old disappeared from his foster grandmother’s home in Kendall on the NSW north coast 10 years ago.
Forensic anthropologist Dr Jennifer Menzies told the hearing on Tuesday that the toddler’s bones would have survived for only seven years in bushland.
She said a child’s skeletal remains can withstand weather and other factors for so long before they decompose.
But there were elements such as exposure to sunlight, highly acidic or alkaline soil, high temperatures and animal predation that would accelerate their destruction.
Dr. Menzies said children’s bones are more likely to disintegrate than adults because they have “a lower mineral content and a higher organic content.”
But she also said the animals could have carried the child’s remains from up to two miles away.
Other factors could also have obscured or destroyed the body of a child dumped in the bushes, such as “debris from leaves, roots of plants or trees growing around the body, branches falling from above.”
Bones of a child like William disintegrate more quickly than the bones of adults because they have a higher organic and lower mineral content
The inquest heard that William’s remains could have persisted in the bush for seven years, or possibly decomposed due to environmental or predation factors.
She also said the remains “could have been moved or hidden by ants or termites, rain run-off, wind-blown sand, burrowing by rabbits, wombats, dogs or foxes.”
The inquest is currently investigating police’s theory that William Tyrell’s foster mother buried his body in bushland after he fell from a balcony and died the morning he disappeared.
Dr. Menzies was asked in 2012 by the William Tyrrell task force, Strike Force Rosann, what might have happened to William’s bones.
Counsel assisting the inquest, Gerard Craddock SC, asked Dr Menzies whether injuries sustained before death – known as ‘perimortem trauma’ could accelerate the decomposition of remains.
Dr. Menzies said some studies have found that “early exposure of bones accelerated decomposition by insects.
‘Other studies found no difference when there was perimortem trauma.’
Mr Craddock told the inquest at its reopening on Monday that the police theory was that ‘William must have probably died [his foster grandmother’s home at] 48 Benaroon Drive [in Kendall].
“The theory… the police claim that they must have quickly come to the conclusion 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.”
Police dog handler Senior Constable Matthew Gates, who searched the area where police said William’s body had been dumped the day after the disappearance, was asked if William could have made it that far through dense bush.
SC Gates, who said he found it difficult to get through the foliage that was almost as tall as he was, let alone a three-year-old having to fight through the forest, found the idea “yes, impossible.”
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.
Professor Jon Olley, a water science expert, at the 2021 excavation of William Tyrrell, gave evidence at the latest round of hearings on Monday
Police search Kendall’s home in 2021 where William disappeared in 2014, suspecting he may have fallen from the balcony in an accident
William’s foster parents attend the hearings, as do detectives from Strike Force Rosann and the boss, Chief Inspector David Laidlaw
The inquest into the disappearance of three-year-old William Tyrrell (above) has resumed for the final series of hearings in November and December
Mr Craddock has said the area around Batar Creek Road was extensively searched by police, who did not believe any trace of William remained 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 just over a week 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.
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.
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.
