Man interviewed 'several times' by police in relation to William Tyrrell case
Detectives searching for missing NSW boy William Tyrrell interviewed an elderly man who lived in the same town 'several times'.
Derek Nichols was interviewed several times, according to reports. The elderly man lived in the same town from which William disappeared in 2014, however, he said he was out of town at the time.
“I was living in Kendall and the police came to see me because I was on the child protection register,” Mr Nichols told News Corp.
“The most significant one was in May when they came and inspected my house.”
Mr Nichols said crimes in Victoria had seen him added to the child protection register. He said he was at Dunbogan when William Tyrrell went missing.
Last year police also focused their attention on tradesman Bill Spedding who said he had worked at the Tyrrell house in the days before the four-year-old vanished.
He has denied any involvement in the disappearance. He also said he was in Dunbogan at the time of William's disappearance.
Strike Force Rossan has also investigated 59-year-old ‘Tory’ Jones over his possible involvement in the case.
He was jailed in September for three years for aggravated indecent assault of a minor
The Wauchope man has a criminal record which spans four decades and includes assault, drugs and robbery charges.
Jones' white Toyota Camry wagon matched the description released in September and was detained for forensic examination.
Police also probed the Grandparents As Parents Again (GAPA) group in the area near the disappearance after ex-president Paul Bickford was convicted of indecently assaulting a young girl.
Member Anthony Jones who had been charged with the indecent assault of an 11-year-old child was also questioned.
There are about 20 people on the child protection register in the area where William Tyrrell disappeared. According to News Corp all have been interviewed but not all of their properties have been searched.
The little boy was last seen playing in the front garden of his grandmother’s home in Kendall, New South Wales on September 12, 2014, wearing a spider man costume.
“He was playing on the grass, I could still hear him,” his mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said.
“And then nothing … that was it. I just collapsed," she recalled, "You can't take him.'”
