THE name William seems a bit formal for a three year old, and so*throughout the week Super*intendent Paul Fehon, a patient, compassionate man, softens it by*referring to him always as ?young William?. Fehon has been in daily contact with the distraught parents of William Tyrell since he disappeared from his grandmother?s house at Kendall on the NSW mid-north coast nine days ago, dressed in a Spider-Man suit. The mid-north coast commander has been the public face of the investigation, and he has been careful with his language, mindful of the family, avoiding any mention of abduction in favour of ?human intervention?. He?s spoken of hope when to others hope seemed lost. He?s chided the media when questioned about the involvement of the sex crimes unit. Really, do the family need know that at this time? He?s tried to shield William?s parents, but he just cannot say the only words they want to hear. ?We?ve found your son.?
So he tells them what he tells me. ?We have a starting point, and that is the house. We are being *totally honest in providing everything we can. We have uncovered no new lead to be able to say we have a new starting point.? It is baffling when you see from where it was he vanished. It?s *bewildering, too, in this era of electronic footprints, when a person?s phone is their personal tracker, that someone can disappear without a trace and nobody, or no machine, has seen a thing. William, his parents and his young sister travelled to Kendall from Sydney on the afternoon of Thursday, September 11. His parents, I was told, live at Killara, on the upper north shore. They were described to me as ?committed Christians and reasonably well off?. (William has a complicated family history and, for legal *reasons, his family cannot be named. It has made aspects of this story difficult to report).
Kendall is an old timber and farming village at the base of the hinterland, 40 minutes south of Port Macquarie. It?s lush, neat and reasonably prosperous, populated by old rural families, sea changers and retirees. It?s a strong, close-knit community. William?s grandmother ? a widow ? moved here ?some years ago?. She is well respected, ?a lovely, lovely lady? immersed in the community. She volunteers at the tourist information centre. She helped set up a community computer room for seniors. She is a keen letter writer to the local paper, the Camden Haven Courier, urging village improvements. Her house is in a newish subdivision of large, half-hectare blocks, about 1km from the centre of Kendall ? the posh part of the village. Benaroon Drive is a dead- end with about 40 houses in it. William?s grandma lives in a big house near the top of the street, up a steep little hill, with a clear view down Benaroon Drive. It is *surrounded by thick bush on three sides.
On Friday morning, September 12, after breakfast, William and his sister played in a sunroom in the house, colouring-in with crayons. One of the adults took a photograph on a phone of an *excited William in his Spider-Man suit with his sister, head*down in the background, *engrossed in drawing. William?s dad went off to ?run an errand?. Grandma, Mum, William and his sister went to the back of the house, where the kids played. Mum went in to make a cup of tea. ?The two kids then played chase-ies around the house,? Fehon tells me. (There was no fence, but it isn?t the sort of place you?d be concerned because the only traffic is to the few houses up that end of Benaroon Drive.) And, then, ?within one to five minutes the adults noticed that William was missing?. They looked around the house. They couldn?t find him. They became frantic. William?s father was called on a mobile phone. He raced home to help. Within 10-15 minutes, neighbours on the street were searching as well. They couldn?t find him. ?Twenty to 25 minutes? after he was first noticed missing, the police were called. They *arrived within six minutes. A ?full search? was initiated.
By now, a couple of dozen *locals were looking for William. Within a few hours, police with sniffer dogs arrived from Port Macquarie. The bush surrounding the house had been ?contaminated? but the handlers, with their dogs, swept further out into the bush. They could pick up no scent. ?If a person was out there, the dogs would have been aware of it,? Fehon explains. By early afternoon that first day, word had spread that a little boy was missing. The community responded and by 1pm there were close to 100 people combing the bush. More came when school finished and there was another surge as folks got home from work. They searched late into the night. Nothing.
In the days since, there has*been a co-ordinated search *involving hundreds of specialist police, the SES, Rural Fire Service, the pony club and locals. Dams have been drained and divers have searched others. Cameras have been put down septic tanks and drains. Not a sandal or scrap of cloth from the Spider-Man suit has turned up. ?It?s like something has come from the sky,? said Louise May, a volunteer surf lifesaver from Port Macquarie who?d given up her week to help search. ?Like he was plucked out of thin air.? Fehon says while the initial focus was on finding ?young William? in the bush, a team of investigators had looked at other possibilities ?from day one?.
Detectives were on the scene that afternoon. The ?errand? William?s father was on has been investigated. He was where he said he was. The phone on which the last photograph of William was taken has been analysed ? the photo was taken ?within an hour? of his disappearance. There is no evidence of any family dispute. William?s wider family has been thoroughly investigated and interviewed, too. Their alibis have been declared sound ? they were hundreds of kilometres away when William disappeared. Very few people knew the family had left Sydney to visit the area. A team of 30 specialist detectives and analysts has been searching for clues, doorknocking and scouring phone records. They?ve been interviewing known sex *offenders in the area, in nearby towns and in caravan parks. They?ve hit a brick wall, too, Fehon says.
There were reports someone had dropped into the local general store and asked for directions to Benaroon Drive. Fehon says they are glad to receive all information and have followed up all leads, but, tellingly, no alert has been *issued about that person or their vehicle. If there was solid evidence, they would want to get it out to the public. While clues have been scarce, compassion has flowed. Karlee Butler, 27, of North Haven, has been at Kendall every day since William went missing. She helped search for the first two days and then moved into the kitchen at the showground ? ?from 5 in the morning til 8 at night, from brekkie til tea? ? providing fresh meals for the searchers. ?I still have hope,? she says. ?And while they keep searching we?ll stay and feed em.? She shows me a neatly written list of all the local businesses and individuals who have donated money and food ? two pages of her notepad.
Benaroon Drive has been closed off to the public, but on Thursday morning, after phoning the family to make sure it was OK, Fehon agrees to show a small group of reporters around. The command centre has been set up at the house. Only two houses are further up. Two children?s bikes are propped against a wall. It is a lovely bush setting. As we stand on the road, the policeman invites us to draw conclusions. If William had been ?playing chase-ies? with his sister, where would he run? It is unlikely that a three year old would run up a steep hill. The logical place is down hill, in full view of the house. ?You can see the aspect of the house,? he says. ?If you are inside the house you are looking straight down the street. You have got a view hundreds of metres down the street. You?d hear a car coming up the street.?
There is bush all around. If a child had gone missing, you?d *initially assume he was lost in the bush. But on closer inspection the bush is thick with lantana and spikes and there are no real tracks. It is very difficult terrain for a three year old to navigate. So if he?s not lost in the bush, what next? Someone has taken him. But who knew he was there? Any vehicle or any person coming* into Benaroon Drive is conspicuous. The neighbours all know*each other and each other?s vehicles ? strangers and strange vehicles are noticed. All the yards are large and open and neatly mown. Would an ?opportunistic? predator risk an abduction in such a setting where he could be so *easily caught? Besides, it?s not the sort of street you just cruise past. ?What are the percentages?? the policeman asks.
The same goes for a targeted abduction ? but if it was targeted how did they know he was there? Where would they sit and wait for the chance for the child to run out on to the street? ?OK,? Fehon says as he looks at his watch. ?You guys have been*here 10 minutes; what do you*think has happened to young William?? We don?t know, we say, looking at each other. It does seem an incredibly difficult location to snatch a child. ?We don?t know, either,? Fehon says. ?That?s why we are keeping an open mind to all pos*sibilities.? He reminds us they are investigating the disappearance of a little boy, young William. ?Everyone is incredibly motivated by that. Everyone is doing everything they possibly can to find him.? The search at Kendall will continue over the weekend, on the edge of roads and bush tracks ? it*is now a search for clues, for things that may have been thrown from the vehicle of a kidnapper.
Originally Posted by songbirdsong
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