THE SQUIZ 

9 years into the investigation of William Tyrrell’s disappearance, NSW Police believe there’s enough evidence to charge William’s unnamed foster mother with perverting the course of justice and interfering with a corpse – the former charge attracting a maximum 14-year prison sentence. The core accusations are that she covered up his accidental death and disposed of his body. She has always denied any involvement in his death. 

BACK IT UP A BIT… 

Let’s go right back… It was 12 September 2014, on a visit from Sydney to his foster grandmother’s place in Kendall on the Mid North Coast of NSW, that the 3yo went missing. He was dressed in a Spiderman suit as he played outside with his 5yo sister. His foster mother says she left them briefly to go inside when she recalled realising it was “too quiet” and could not find him. A search was mounted, and after no sign of William was found, authorities concluded he had been kidnapped. What followed was one of the biggest-ever investigations launched by NSW Police involving hundreds of people of interest. William has still not been found, and, to date, no one has been charged over his disappearance. The boy would have turned 12yo on Monday. 

SO POLICE ARE GETTING SOMEWHERE? 

Well, we’ll see… There have been so many twists and turns, police missteps, and new search efforts that haven’t led to a big breakthrough. A fresh team of detectives picked the case up in 2020, and a year later there was a new search of the Kendall home and surroundings that turned up nothing. But in that process, it was made clear that William’s foster mother was the only person police were looking at. As for what’s next, news reports say that the evidence collected by police is now with the Director of Public Prosecutions for review ahead of any charges being laid.