NSW Police’s ‘hopeful’ search for William Tyrrell’s body will bring seven years to a close

It’s been more than seven years since William Tyrrell was last seen – now police are hoping a major development is as little as two weeks away.

Yesterday, police announced that hundreds of officers would be involved in a “high-intensity” search at three locations, which had never been searched before around Kendall, on the NSW Mid-North Coast.

The sites are close to where three-year-old William – who disappeared on September 12, 2014 – was last seen.

Detective Inspector Darren Bennett said the operation had been triggered by “new evidence” and would last between two and three weeks.

“We think this gives us the best chance of finding him,” he said.

He admitted that it was doubtful whether the boy was still alive.

“It is highly likely that if we found anything, it would be a corpse. We are looking for the remains of William Tyrrell, no doubt about it,” he said.

William – dressed in a Spider-Man outfit – disappeared from his foster grandmother’s house in Kendall seven years ago.

William and his slightly older sister, who for legal reasons cannot be named, played “tigers” on the lawn before his foster grandmother went inside to make tea.

When she returned outside, William was gone.

Hundreds of NSW police and forensic vehicles were seen yesterday around the small coastal town, where they searched forested areas.

When asked if officers had cut down trees, Crime Commissioner Bennett said they “cleared terrain” in three specific areas.

He said the operation was triggered by new evidence.

Despite extensive searches and an investigation into Williams’ disappearance, he said the operation was to check “new places” and involved a “different type of search method”.

He said he was “very hopeful that we can bring this matter to some kind of conclusion”.

The results of an 18-month coronal investigation into Williams’ disappearance, which began in March 2019, should have been handed down this year.

Thousands of pieces of evidence and clues were considered, and the investigation heard emotional testimonies from his family, including from his sister, who promised to be a police officer one day to find him.

Deputy forensic pathologist Harriet Grahame is expected to deliver her findings early next year.

Detective Bennett said: “This activity, in response to evidence we have obtained during the course of the investigation, is not speculative in any way.”

He said it would be a development to find a body, but not the end of the police investigation.

“I by no means expect a speedy conclusion to the investigation,” he said.

Police said the $ 1 million reward that led to the capture of Williams’ abductor was still available.