‘Jesus saves William Tyrrell’: Bizarre find in forest leads to police investigation
A tree stump with the words ‘Jesus saves William Tyrrell’ scrawled in red spray paint was discovered in a national park over the weekend, just 12km from the missing toddler’s home in Kendall.
Lodged inside the trunk was a can containing a compass, a torch, coin and a sealed bag with post-it notes.
Wauchope builder Bob Carnes made the chilling discovery in the Middle Brother State Forest, located in the Yoorigan National Park.
He posted images of the can and the tree on his Facebook page on Sunday, saying the tree stump was ‘right on the track’ where he had been driving.
Several Facebook users suggested that perhaps the container and its contents were intended to be a ‘wish kit’ designed to help William find his way home.
“Compass to find his way, torch to see at night, coin to call someone but the notes aren't much good without a pen, maybe they are to leave a trail,” one woman wrote.
A common theory among Mr Carnes’ friends was a geocache game – a hide-and-seek style game using GPS locations and clues.
“It looks like a geocache,” one user wrote. “Explains the tin and the sort of things inside it - but not the tree.”
In a recent post, one woman confirmed the gaming theory, claiming that she knew who was responsible for the tin.
“Not sure if you already heard but a friend of a friend seen [sic] your post and has said that they left the compass there last week (geocaching) but the writing on the stump wasn't there then," she wrote.
Mr Carnes also mentioned that the red spray paint was ‘fresh’ and didn’t look like it had been there for long.
He sent police the images along with the GPS location and was told authorities would attend the scene.
Local residents said police cars and helicopters were seen in the area on Sunday afternoon.
William was wearing a Spiderman costume when he disappeared from his grandmother's yard in Kendall, near Port Macquarie, on September 12, 2014.
Police have questioned four suspects in relation to the case but are yet to lay any charges.
It is not the first time a message relating to the missing toddler has been found in a tree.
A message containing the words ‘William’ and ‘Dad’ were found scratched into a tree on the outskirts of Kendall.
Authorities determined the writing was made too long ago to be linked to the case.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
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