Witnesses dispute claim in William Tyrrell disappearance
Witnesses in the investigation into the suspected abduction of NSW toddler William Tyrrell have disputed claims of cars seen parked in the street the morning the boy vanished.
The revelation comes as police launched a fresh search for evidence as an inquest into the boy’s disappearance continues.
As the inquest resumes in the NSW Mid North Coast town of Taree on Tuesday, police on Monday launched a fresh local search five years on from William’s disappearance.
Police, sniffer dogs and SES personnel scoured bushland around Kendall and the nearby township of Herons Creek.
Cars ‘were not there’ outside Kendall home
The inquest into the three-year-old's suspected abduction heard on Monday the foster mother - who can't be named for legal reasons - told police she saw two unknown sedans parked in the street outside William's foster grandmother's home on the morning he disappeared.
William was last seen at that home, on Benaroon Drive in Kendall on NSW's Mid-North Coast, late on the morning of September 12, 2014.
Detective Sergeant Laura Beacroft, who joined the investigation in September 2015, said she'd been unable to corroborate the foster mother's statement about the cars seen at 7.30am and 9am.
Under questioning from a lawyer for William’s biological father, the detective told the NSW Coroners Court some witnesses were adamant the cars described were not there.
One woman said she was sure she'd have noticed the cars as vehicles were rarely parked on the wide, quiet street, the inquest was told.
Det Sgt Beacroft said the foster father, who previously told the inquest he was out of town for work between 9am and 10.30am, also couldn't remember seeing the vehicles as he left.
William's foster mother called the police about 10.56am, telling them her boy was wearing a Spider-Man suit when last seen about 10.30am.
Neighbour ‘saw boy wearing Spider-Man costume in car’
The inquest was told a local resident reported seeing two cars - one with a boy in the back seat wearing a Spider-Man costume - driving away from the area where William was last seen.
Det Sgt Beacroft told the inquest she didn't believe the resident, Ronald Chapman, had made up what he'd seen from outside his Laurel Street home the morning of September 12.
Neither car has been identified during the investigation, the inquest was told.
Laurel Street sits east of a road that connects to Benaroon Drive and west of roads connecting to the Pacific Highway.
Det Sgt Beacroft said it was possible the two cars Mr Chapman saw just happened to be heading in the same direction and weren’t in convoy.
Mr Chapman is expected to give evidence at the inquest this week.
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