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Discovery made in search for missing toddler William Tyrrell

A discovery has been made as police continue their search for the remains of missing toddler William Tyrrell.

Police have so far combed bushland and drained a creek in an area about a kilometre from the Kendall property on the NSW Mid North Coast where the boy's foster grandmother lived and where he was last seen seven years ago.

A hessian bag was found and collected for forensic testing on Saturday, with at least two other pieces of fabric placed in evidence bags and sent off earlier in the week.

NSW Police search an area of bush, 1km from the former home of William Tyrrell’s foster grandmother in Kendall, mid north coast of NSW.
Police comb bushland about 1km from where William Tyrrell's foster grandmother used to live. Source: AAP

Investigators have also scanned a concrete slab at the property, laid after the boy disappeared, but have since confirmed nothing of note was found.

Strike Force Rosann officers are testing theories William may have fallen from a balcony at the property, sifting through a garden below, and earlier this week seized a Mazda that previously belonged to the foster grandmother, who has since died.

The renewed search for the three-year-old could take months, with investigators on day six having scoured only a fraction of the scrub near where the pre-schooler disappeared.

William Tyrrell, 3, is pictured.
William has been missing for seven years. Source: AAP

As the end of the first week of the "high intensity" search draws near, police have searched an estimated 10 to 20 per cent of the areas of interest - or about one kilometre squared.

At that rate, the painstaking effort could take up to nine weeks to complete.

Detective Chief Superintendent Darren Bennett told reporters on Monday some of the search efforts will be subterranean.

"It's highly likely that if we found something it would be a body," he said.

Det Chief Supt Bennett said the search is in response to evidence obtained in the investigation with the focus on three locations in the Kendall area on the NSW Mid North Coast.

NSW Police and Rural Fire Service volunteers search an area of bush, 1km from the former home of William Tyrrell’s foster grandmother in Kendall, mid north coast of NSW.
Police said part of the search would be subterranean. Source: AAP

Police earlier this week also charged the boy's former foster parents over an unrelated alleged assault on a different child.

The pair is due to face court at Hornsby on Tuesday.

The findings of a coronial inquest into William's disappearance, which concluded last year, are yet to be handed down.

A $1 million reward for information on the case still stands.

with AAP

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