William Tyrrell (missing person)

William Tyrrell (born 26 June 2011) is an Australian boy who disappeared at the age of three from Kendall, New South Wales, on 12 September 2014.

He had been playing at his grandmother's house with his sister, and was wearing a Spider-Man suit at the time of his disappearance.

For the first seven years of the investigation, Tyrrell was believed to have been abducted.

On 11 September 2014, three-year-old William Tyrrell, his foster parents, and his five-year-old sister travelled four hours from Sydney to visit his foster grandmother in Kendall.

His grandmother's house on Benaroon Drive is directly across a bush road from the Kendall State Forest, about 35 km south of Port Macquarie.

Between 10:00 and 10:25 am on 12 September, Tyrrell and his sister were playing hide-and-seek in the front and back yard, while his foster mother and foster grandmother were sitting outside watching them.

His foster mother went inside to make a cup of tea; she became worried after she had not heard him for five minutes and began searching the yard and house.

Shortly after, Tyrrell's foster father returned after going to Lakewood on business and began searching the street and door-knocking neighbours.

At 10:57, Tyrell's foster mother phoned 000 emergency services to report him missing.

The New South Wales Police Force arrived at 11:06.

His foster mother's last memory was that Tyrrell was imitating a tiger's roar while running towards the side of the home, and then there was silence and he had disappeared.

His foster mother looked for him but without success.

Hundreds of police, members of the State Emergency Service and the Rural Fire Service, and members of the community searched day and night for Tyrrell.

Specialist police, including the sex crimes squad from Strike Force, became involved.

Motorcycles and helicopters were brought in to search.

Two hundred volunteers searched overnight, hundreds of people combed rugged terrain around the home and police divers searched waterways and dams.

Police searched every house in the estate that surrounds Benaroon Drive several times.

Detection dogs were brought in and managed to detect Tyrrell's scent, but only within the boundaries of the backyard.

"Strike Force Rosann" was established with specially trained investigators from the State Crime Command who were experienced in the unexplained disappearance of young children.

They supported the police, other emergency services workers and members of the public involved in the search.

After five days, police said they were unable to come up with any leads.

Police later began investigations into finding the drivers of two cars that were seen parked on the dead-end road on the morning Tyrrell disappeared.

The cars, described as a white station wagon and an older-style grey sedan, were parked between two driveways of the acre lot of land.

They were seen with their driver's side windows down and were unknown in a neighbourhood where locals were considered friends.

These cars were noticed by Tyrrell's foster mother and have not been seen again since the time he disappeared.

The police regard these particular vehicles with suspicion, as there seemed to be no logical reason why they would be parked on the street before Tyrrell's disappearance.

Reportedly, at 9:00 am, a green or grey sedan car drove past the Benaroon Drive residence while Tyrrell and his sister were riding bikes in the driveway.

The car drove into the no through road, did a U-turn in the neighbour's driveway and drove out of the street.

Secondly, another 4WD was sighted driving out of Benaroon Drive at about 10:30 am, about the time Tyrrell disappeared.

The same vehicle was later seen speeding down another Kendall street.

The police said that they have known about these cars since the investigation started.

However, as part of investigative strategy, the information about these vehicles was not released to the public until twelve months after Tyrrell disappeared.

The police cleared Tyrrell's family of any involvement in the disappearance and initially believed the boy was abducted by an opportunistic stranger who may have a connection with a paedophile ring.

The police also believed initially that the boy could be alive in the hands of a group of people suspected of paedophile activity, but it is no longer believed the kidnapper is a member of a paedophile ring.

Investigators have interviewed dozens of people, including a number of paedophiles.

On 12 September 2016, a reward of A$1 million was offered for the recovery of Tyrrell and did not require the arrest, charging or conviction of any person or persons.

On 15 November 2021, after receiving new evidence, the New South Wales Police Force renewed the search for Tyrrell in three areas surrounding Kendall, assuming that they were searching for human remains.

On 17 November, major media reported that Tyrrell's foster mother and now-deceased foster grandmother were being treated as persons of interest in his disappearance.

The police began investigating the possibility of a fall from a balcony on the property.

On 27 June 2023, police recommended charges against Tyrell's foster mother for perverting the course of justice and interfering with a corpse.