He vanished on September 12, 2014, while playing at his grandmother's house in Kendall, New South Wales.
At the time, he was wearing a Spider-Man costume.
For the first seven years after his disappearance, the authorities thought he had been kidnapped.
A reward of A$1 million was offered for his recovery, with no need to arrest, charge, or convict anyone.
Later, the police suspected that some family members might be involved in his disappearance.
They suspect that William may have fallen off the balcony while playing, which led to a family cover-up.
Despite extensive search and investigations, William Tyrrell has remained missing and has not been seen since 2014.
Disappearance
On September 11, 2014, three-year-old William Tyrrell, his foster parents, and his five-year-old sister traveled four hours from Sydney to visit his foster grandmother in Kendall.
On September 12, between 10:00 and 10:25 am, William Tyrrell and his sister were playing hide-and-seek in the front and back yard while their foster mother and foster grandmother watched them from outside.
The foster mother went inside to make a cup of tea.
After not hearing William for five minutes, she got worried and started looking for him in the yard and house.
Soon after, the foster father returned from a business trip and began searching the street and knocking on neighbors' doors.
After searching and not finding him, William Tyrrell's foster mother called the authorities to report him missing.
Investigations
The New South Wales Police arrived immediately and began their investigations.
When the police interviewed William's foster mother, she said the last thing she remembered was William pretending to be a tiger and running towards the side of the house.
Then everything went quiet, and he suddenly disappeared.
She said she searched for him immediately but couldn't find him.
After questioning William's family, the police cleared them of any involvement in his disappearance.
Hundreds of police, State Emergency Service members, Rural Fire Service members, and community volunteers searched day and night for William Tyrrell.
They used motorcycles and helicopters to help with the search.
Two hundred volunteers searched overnight, and hundreds of people scoured the rough terrain around the home.
Police divers searched waterways and dams but there was no sign of William.
The police searched every house in the neighborhood around Benaroon Drive several times but the search yeilded no results
Detection dogs picked up Tyrrell's scent, but only within the house's backyard.
After five days of extensive searching, the police said they had no leads.
Theories
There were some theories investigated regarding Williams's disappearance. Some of them include:
- Random Kidnapping
For the first seven years after his disappearance, the authorities thought he had been kidnapped.
The police investigated several suspicious cars that were seen in the neighborhood on the morning William Tyrrell disappeared.
The cars, a white station wagon and an older grey sedan, were parked between two driveways on a large piece of land.
The cars had their driver's side windows down which was suspicious.
The cars were also unfamiliar in a neighborhood where everyone knew each other.
Tyrrell's foster mother noticed these cars, and they haven't been seen since his disappearance.
The police are suspicious of these vehicles because there was no clear reason for them to be parked there before Tyrrell went missing.
Reportedly, at 9:00 am, another car—a green or grey sedan—drove past the house while Tyrrell and his sister were riding bikes in the driveway.
The car entered the dead-end road, made a U-turn in a neighbor's driveway, and left the street.
A third unknown vehicle, a 4WD, was also seen that morning driving out of Benaroon Drive around 10:30 am.
This was around the time Tyrrell disappeared.
Later, the same vehicle was spotted speeding down another street in that same neighborhood.
- Suspected pedophile ring
Authorities suspected that the boy was taken by a stranger who might have ties to a pedophile ring.
They also thought he might be alive and held by the individuals in those groups.
Investigators interviewed many people, including several known pedophiles.
Also, reports show that approximately twenty registered sex offenders were residing in the Kendall area where Tyrrell went missing.
According to reports, two persons of interest in the case, who were both convicted child sex offenders, possibly met on the day Tyrrell disappeared.
The family of one offender, who had numerous convictions including aggravated indecent assault of a minor, said he planned to visit another offender that day.
After the visit, he returned home drunk in the afternoon.
When he was interviewed, he told police he spent the day in the bush collecting scrap metal.
Both men reportedly lived in Kendall and drove vehicles similar to those seen when Tyrrell vanished.
The two of them were questioned by police and they denied being friends or having any involvement in Tyrrell's disappearance.
Meanwhile, they were part of an organization called GAPA (Grandparents As Parents Again) and were friends.
Another man, who repaired a washing machine in that area, faced unrelated historical child sex charges in Victoria.
The police had charged him with multiple child sexual offences, including indecent assault and sexual intercourse with children between 1983 and 1985 in Victoria.
In September 2015, he posted an online video denying any involvement in Tyrrell's disappearance.
He clarified that he was not around the area the day the boy disappeared.
It was eventually confirmed that the man had been elsewhere on the morning of the disappearance.
Accidental Death
On November 17, 2021, major news outlets reported that William's foster mother and her deceased foster grandmother were considered persons of interest in his disappearance.
The police started looking into the possibility that Tyrrell may have fallen from a balcony at the house.
In April 2022, Williams's foster mother was charged with providing false or misleading information about the boy's disappearance.
After few months of court proceedings, she was acquitted of these charges in November 2022.
On June 27, 2023, police recommended charging Tyrrell's foster mother with perverting the course of justice and tampering with a corpse.
They suspect she might have hidden his accidental death and disposed of his body.
The public has not been informed about the evidence that led to these charges, likely due to an ongoing investigation.
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| The property where he went missing |
Reported Sightings
The investigation team received over 1,000 potential sightings in the first two years after Tyrrell went missing.
Among these sightings was a photo taken in Queensland showing a man and a young boy who looked very similar to Tyrrell.
However, police later confirmed that the boy was not him.
In early 2015, two passengers and a crew member on a New Zealand flight, thought they saw Tyrrell on board the plane.
Police met the plane when it landed but confirmed it was not him.
Another photo showed a young boy and a woman at a McDonald's in central Queensland.
Even though the boy looked like Tyrrell and the woman seemed to be his grandmother, police later confirmed they were not connected to them.
Current Status
Since Tyrrell disappeared, the case has resulted in a record number of over 2,800 calls to NSW Crime Stoppers alone.
Police have interviewed more than 1,000 people and generated 11,000 documents related to the investigation.
The search effort has extended globally to Europe and the US, with Crime Stoppers websites in up to 26 countries posting appeals for information.
Police have identified 690 persons of interest and have engaged specialist squads within the State Crime Command to investigate many of them.
According to reports, Australian detectives may have already questioned all the people involved in the case, but they haven't received any useful information.
On September 12, 2016, marking the second anniversary of Tyrrell's disappearance, the government offered a $1 million reward for information leading to his whereabouts.
The police explained that usually, the reward is paid only upon the arrest and conviction of the person responsible.
But in this case, finding Tyrrell is also a condition for receiving the $1 million dollar reward.
It is the largest ever reward offered to find a missing person in New South Wales's history.
On June 12, 2018, police announced they would conduct an extensive forensic search in the bushland near Kendall.
The search, led by experts from the Public Order and Riot Squad, was expected to last three to four weeks.
On November 15, 2021, NSW police said they had obtained new evidence and would resume searching for Tyrrell in three areas near Kendall.
This search was focused on locating his remains.
Despite extensive search efforts and forensic testing, as of June 2023, police still do not know what happened to Tyrrell.
Detective Inspector Gary Jubelin emphasized in June 2015 that finding Tyrrell remained a top priority for the NSW Police Force.
He stated that investigators would continue to treat the case as though Tyrrell were alive until they had evidence suggesting otherwise.
A police spokesperson on February 20, 2016, mentioned that the ongoing investigation was one of the largest homicide investigations, and they maintained hope of finding Tyrrell alive.
However, in November 15, 2021, authorities said they were now focused on finding the remains of William Tyrrell, acknowledging the likelihood that any discovery would be a body.
William Tyrrell still remains missing and we do hope that one day the unanswered questions everyone one has will be answered and dome closure finally brought to Tyler's parents.
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