Lead investigator in case of William Tyrrell says NOBODY has been ruled out as possible persons of interest in the toddler’s disappearance
William Tyrrell's foster and biological parents have not been ruled out as possible persons of interest in his disappearance, an inquest has heard.
William was three years old when he was last seen playing at his foster grandmother's home in Kendall on the NSW mid-north coast at about 10.30am on September 12, 2014.
Despite police being called within the hour, hundreds of persons of interest being investigated and stacks of evidence documented, no trace of the boy or his Spider-Man suit he was wearing has been found.
An inquest into his disappearance resumed for a fourth and final round of hearings on Tuesday.
William was last seen playing at his foster grandmother's home in Kendall on the NSW mid-north coast at about 10.30am on September 12, 2014
Pictured: NSW Police search bushland at Batar Creek in NSW on June 27, 2018 amid an investigation into William's disappearance
Detective Chief Inspector David Laidlaw, the current supervisor of the police investigation, said no one had been ruled out as persons of interest.
'We haven't closed the door on anybody,' he said.
'There could still be info out there that they could be involved.'
Potential persons of interest could include neighbours and a local paedophile.
The inquest has been told there was no doubt William's biological parents were in Sydney the day he disappeared in 2014.
Detective Chief Inspector David Laidlaw , the current supervisor of the police investigation, said no one had been ruled out as persons of interest - including William's biological and foster parents
William's biological father also explicitly told the inquest he'd played no part in his son's disappearance.
The foster family has also denied being involved and repeatedly criticised NSW Police Force's handling of the investigation since former detective chief inspector Gary Jubelin was removed as supervisor in early 2019.
Jubelin was sidelined after police discovered he'd made four illegal recordings of a person of interest in 2017 and 2018. He was later convicted and fined $10,000.
Anna Baker told the inquest her former neighbour, convicted sex offender Frank Abbott, knows 'something' about the boy's disappearance.
At about 3.30pm on the day after William disappeared, Ms Baker said she heard a scream from bushland behind her Herons Creek property.
Ms Baker reported it to police in 2018 after learning Abbott lived in the vicinity at that time.
Despite police being called within the hour, hundreds of persons of interest being investigated and stacks of evidence documented, no trace of the boy or his Spider-Man suit he was wearing has been found
Anna Baker told the inquest her former neighbour, convicted sex offender Frank Abbott , knows 'something' about the boy's disappearance
Abbott, who was later convicted of child sex offences and is currently in a Cessnock jail, suggested Ms Baker didn't hear the noise from his place 'because the distance was too great'.
She said the noise came from bush to the left of her backyard, while Abbott's home was in bush to the right.
'You're the only person who lives there and you're a paedophile,' she said.
'So it makes sense.
'You know something, Frank Abbott.'
The pair spoke over each other often as coroner Harriet Grahame tried to restore order, eventually asking Ms Baker to take a breath.
This is a caravan Abbott lived at on the mid-north coast of New South Wales following William's disappearance
An inquest into his disappearance resumed for a fourth and final round of hearings on Tuesday
The inquest has previously heard Abbott was 'obsessed' with the search for William.
In 2014, Abbott lived in a caravan on a property on Herons Creek Road - about four kilometres from Kendall.
Ms Baker on Tuesday said she'd been tending her strawberry patch the day after William went missing when she heard a boy scream.
'It was a scream and it was silence pretty quickly ... I had no reason to think it was William.'
Abbott is not on the witness list and is not expected to give evidence to the inquest.
Before he died of a kidney infection, Abbott's 'fishing buddy' Ray Porter allegedly told a nurse he had allegedly driven William and his best mate some 300km north.
Uniting Care nurse Kirston Okpegbue told the inquest earlier this year that Porter had rested his head on her shoulder in August 2019.
'I didn't do anything wrong,' she recalled Porter saying, in her statement to the court. 'All I did was give my best mate and the boy a lift.'
'Who?' Ms Okpegbue asked. Porter replied: 'The boy that went missing down in Kendall?'
Ms Okpegbue told the inquest in March: 'Ray said he had picked up his best mate at Kendall School.
'Behind the school was a shed. From there they drove 300km.'
While it wasn't explicitly said at the inquest that Abbott was the friend he was speaking of, the court had already been told the pair were close mates.
No trace of William has ever been found and no person has ever been charged.
Timeline of William Tyrrell's disappearance
Still missing: William Tyrrell vanished from his foster grandmother's home five years ago
2014
September 12 - Dressed in a Spiderman outfit, three-year-old William Tyrrell goes missing from the garden while visiting members of his foster family on the NSW north coast.
September 21 - Police stop searching for the missing boy after scouring surrounding bushland and neighbouring houses.
2015
January 20 - Police search the home and business of washing machine repairman Bill Spedding, who had been due to carry out repairs at the house at the time the three-year-old went missing.
Detectives take items for testing including a mattress, computer and vehicles. They drain his septic tank.
January 23 - The washing machine repairman publicly denies any involvement in William's disappearance and says he and his wife are on the verge of a breakdown due to the public attention.
February 19 - Homicide detectives take over the case and say it's likely William was abducted.
March 2 - Police fruitlessly search an area of bushland near Bonny Hills for three days after a tip-off.
April 17 - William's foster parents speak publicly for the first time in an emotional video released through police which does not identify them.
April 17 - Police say the boy may have been a victim of a paedophile ring.
September 6 - The Nine Network's 60 Minutes reveal two suspicious cars were parked on the street the morning William went missing.
September 12 - 'Where's William' week is launched one year after he disappeared.
2016
September 12 - A $1million reward is offered for information leading to William's return.
2017
August 24 - William's foster child status is revealed after a landmark court ruling.
2018
June 12 - NSW Police announce the start of a four-week forensic search of bushland conducted by Strike Force Rosann.
June 14 - William's grandmother scolds police who have failed to find the young boy after four years, and claims their latest search is 'just for show'.
June 26 - The forensic search continues on what would have been William's seventh birthday.
June 27 - Strike Force Rosann announces it will move the search to an 800sqm block of bushland just 4km from where William was last seen alive.
June 5 - The latest search ends with Detective Chief Inspector Gary Jubelin saying the case could soon go to a coroner.
August - Investigation leader Detective Chief Inspector Gary Jubelin and a sergeant get into a disagreement during a briefing.
September 13 - Police reveal they found a burned out car wreck belonging to a former person of interest.
December 19 - Coroners say William could still be alive and the inquest will determine if he died or not.
2019
February - DCI Jubelin is removed from the investigation amid a misconduct probe.
March 25 - The inquest into William Tyrrell's disappearance begins, with William's biological and foster parents appearing over the course of a week.
The inquest's first batch of hearings focused on William's family situation and the events leading up to his disappearance.
Both his foster and biological parents were quizzed, as were neighbours who helped in the search.
It was disclosed that William's biological parents absconded with him for six weeks in 2012, following a children's court order.
William's biological father slammed authorities for letting them down.
'Authorities f***ed up ... The minister had a duty of care to keep William safe until he was 18. That was not the case at all.'
May: DCI Jubelin quits the Police Force.
June: Four charges of breaching the Surveillance Devices Act are laid against DCI Jubelin. He denies any wrongdoing whatsover
August: The second tranche of inquest hearings began on Wednesday August 7
Inquest hears Bill Spedding, a NSW mid-north coast repairman and one-time person of interest in the disappearance of William Tyrrell, met his wife for coffee about 9.30am in Laurieton, a 15-minute drive from Kendall, on the day William went missing.
They then attended a school assembly across the road to see a child in their care receive an award.
The inquest heard how a man who claims he saw William Tyrrell unrestrained in the back of a speeding car on the day the child went missing was waiting for police to interview him to tell them what he saw.
He told the inquest he contacted police but did not hear back about an interview.
It took it took almost 1000 days before he was able to reveal what he saw to police.
The coroner orders an urgent probe into the final image that was taken on the day William vanished as metadata suggests the picture may have been taken 118 minutes earlier than originally thought.
The image has a 'created time' of 7.39am and a 'corrected time' of 9.37am, a new document from the 2000-page evidence brief.
The coronial inquest has been delayed for another eight months with the next round of hearings happening in March 2020.
November 11: The deputy state coroner releases footage of William Tyrrell and family at Heatherbrae McDonalds, on September 11, 2014
Feb - March 2020: Gary Jubelin defends four charges of illegally recording person of interest Paul Savage in court hearing
February 21: Daily Mail Australia reveals Frank Abbott was arrested in custody for the purposes of a police interview about William's disappearance
March 2020: The coronial inquest into William's disappearance resumes but stops with two days to go due to the coronavirus outbreak
April 6, 2020: Magistrate Ross Hudson delivers his verdict in Gary Jubelin case
April 8, 2020: Jubelin is convicted of all four charges and fined $10,000. Ex-cop says he will appeal
June 22: Police and SES launch new search for William Tyrell near Herons Creek, where Abbott once lived
Timeline of William Tyrrell's disappearance
Still missing: William Tyrrell vanished from his foster grandmother's home five years ago
2014
September 12 - Dressed in a Spiderman outfit, three-year-old William Tyrrell goes missing from the garden while visiting members of his foster family on the NSW north coast.
September 21 - Police stop searching for the missing boy after scouring surrounding bushland and neighbouring houses.
2015
January 20 - Police search the home and business of washing machine repairman Bill Spedding, who had been due to carry out repairs at the house at the time the three-year-old went missing.
Detectives take items for testing including a mattress, computer and vehicles. They drain his septic tank.
January 23 - The washing machine repairman publicly denies any involvement in William's disappearance and says he and his wife are on the verge of a breakdown due to the public attention.
February 19 - Homicide detectives take over the case and say it's likely William was abducted.
March 2 - Police fruitlessly search an area of bushland near Bonny Hills for three days after a tip-off.
April 17 - William's foster parents speak publicly for the first time in an emotional video released through police which does not identify them.
April 17 - Police say the boy may have been a victim of a paedophile ring.
September 6 - The Nine Network's 60 Minutes reveal two suspicious cars were parked on the street the morning William went missing.
September 12 - 'Where's William' week is launched one year after he disappeared.
2016
September 12 - A $1million reward is offered for information leading to William's return.
2017
August 24 - William's foster child status is revealed after a landmark court ruling.
2018
June 12 - NSW Police announce the start of a four-week forensic search of bushland conducted by Strike Force Rosann.
June 14 - William's grandmother scolds police who have failed to find the young boy after four years, and claims their latest search is 'just for show'.
June 26 - The forensic search continues on what would have been William's seventh birthday.
June 27 - Strike Force Rosann announces it will move the search to an 800sqm block of bushland just 4km from where William was last seen alive.
June 5 - The latest search ends with Detective Chief Inspector Gary Jubelin saying the case could soon go to a coroner.
August - Investigation leader Detective Chief Inspector Gary Jubelin and a sergeant get into a disagreement during a briefing.
September 13 - Police reveal they found a burned out car wreck belonging to a former person of interest.
December 19 - Coroners say William could still be alive and the inquest will determine if he died or not.
2019
February - DCI Jubelin is removed from the investigation amid a misconduct probe.
March 25 - The inquest into William Tyrrell's disappearance begins, with William's biological and foster parents appearing over the course of a week.
The inquest's first batch of hearings focused on William's family situation and the events leading up to his disappearance.
Both his foster and biological parents were quizzed, as were neighbours who helped in the search.
It was disclosed that William's biological parents absconded with him for six weeks in 2012, following a children's court order.
William's biological father slammed authorities for letting them down.
'Authorities f***ed up ... The minister had a duty of care to keep William safe until he was 18. That was not the case at all.'
May: DCI Jubelin quits the Police Force.
June: Four charges of breaching the Surveillance Devices Act are laid against DCI Jubelin. He denies any wrongdoing whatsover
August: The second tranche of inquest hearings began on Wednesday August 7
Inquest hears Bill Spedding, a NSW mid-north coast repairman and one-time person of interest in the disappearance of William Tyrrell, met his wife for coffee about 9.30am in Laurieton, a 15-minute drive from Kendall, on the day William went missing.
They then attended a school assembly across the road to see a child in their care receive an award.
The inquest heard how a man who claims he saw William Tyrrell unrestrained in the back of a speeding car on the day the child went missing was waiting for police to interview him to tell them what he saw.
He told the inquest he contacted police but did not hear back about an interview.
It took it took almost 1000 days before he was able to reveal what he saw to police.
The coroner orders an urgent probe into the final image that was taken on the day William vanished as metadata suggests the picture may have been taken 118 minutes earlier than originally thought.
The image has a 'created time' of 7.39am and a 'corrected time' of 9.37am, a new document from the 2000-page evidence brief.
The coronial inquest has been delayed for another eight months with the next round of hearings happening in March 2020.
November 11: The deputy state coroner releases footage of William Tyrrell and family at Heatherbrae McDonalds, on September 11, 2014
Feb - March 2020: Gary Jubelin defends four charges of illegally recording person of interest Paul Savage in court hearing
February 21: Daily Mail Australia reveals Frank Abbott was arrested in custody for the purposes of a police interview about William's disappearance
March 2020: The coronial inquest into William's disappearance resumes but stops with two days to go due to the coronavirus outbreak
April 6, 2020: Magistrate Ross Hudson delivers his verdict in Gary Jubelin case
April 8, 2020: Jubelin is convicted of all four charges and fined $10,000. Ex-cop says he will appeal
June 22: Police and SES launch new search for William Tyrell near Herons Creek, where Abbott once lived