Touching message online reflects on missing William Tyrrell’s ‘lost Christmases’
Friends and family of missing William Tyrrell shared the pain of the little boy’s “lost Christmases and stolen years” in a harrowing social media Christmas message.
Today marks three years, three months and 13 days since little William was last seen on the New South Wales mid-north coast.
He was just three when he disappeared from his grandmother's front yard in Kendall, and his case remains open and the search for him is very much active.
“On Christmas morning when little ones around Australia and the world awaken bright-eyed with wonder at toys found in stockings and beneath lighted trees, William’s loved ones will continue to shed tears for their precious little boy and the stolen years,” the post on the official campaign Facebook page reads.
“Wherever you are William, we hold hope in our hearts that soon you will find your way home to us and we can smother you with love, hugs and kisses to make up for the heartbreak and tears, the lost Christmases and stolen years.”
What missing boy William Tyrrell would look like now
'We will never stop looking': William Tyrrell foster family continue to hope they will find him
Three years since William Tyrrell vanished
William would have turned six last June.
Police have vowed to continue the search for William despite the Supreme Court earlier this year ruled there was a “tragic probability that he is dead”.
Untraceable missing persons' postcards give families hope
While many missing person cases are suspicious, there are a number of Australians who are willingly disconnected from their families and friends, whose location is unknown.
Each year 38,000 people are reported missing in Australia.
Half those reported missing between 2008 and 2015 were aged between 13 and 17.
In the first 48 hours of going misssing, more than 60 percent of those are found. All but one per cent of those missing are eventually located, according to the Australian Institute of Criminology.
The Australian Federal Police is hopeful at least 1,000 of those disconnected will take up its new Christmas initiative to reach out to worried family and friends, through non-traceable postcards available at 400 national Salvation Army centres.
In partnership with The Salvos and the National Missing Persons Coordination Centre, the AFP say the initiative will help deliver “a message of hope” to families living with the uncertainty of a missing loved one this Christmas.
The postcards will be delivered via a central posting facility with no marks identifying the originating location, so those who choose to be “missing” can send a message home without their location being known.
"Going missing is not a crime,” AFP Assistant Commissioner Debbie Platz told the ABC.
“So all we are trying to do is reconnect families so there can be less stress among our community.”
The cards can be collected from any of the Salvation Army’s centres throughout the Christmas and New Year period.
Anyone with information on William Tyrell’s disappearance is encouraged to call Crime Stoppers 1800 333 000 or use the Crime Stoppers online reporting page. If you have any information about a missing person you can call the National Missing Persons Coordination Centre on 1800 000 634.
