1 00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:05,440 Speaker 1: When I think of William, I think of a little 2 00:00:05,440 --> 00:00:11,200 Speaker 1: boy who I think of his dimples. You know, when 3 00:00:11,200 --> 00:00:11,959 Speaker 1: he smiled. 4 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:17,280 Speaker 2: What if I told you everything you thought you knew 5 00:00:17,640 --> 00:00:20,960 Speaker 2: about the disappearance of William Tyrrel was wrong. 6 00:00:21,800 --> 00:00:31,600 Speaker 1: This side smile that just is cheeky, m but sweet 7 00:00:32,120 --> 00:00:37,479 Speaker 1: and funny and mischievous, all kind of wrapped into one. 8 00:00:37,840 --> 00:00:41,599 Speaker 2: Not the big things, those are true. A three year 9 00:00:41,640 --> 00:00:45,360 Speaker 2: old boy missing from a tiny country town on the 10 00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:49,159 Speaker 2: mid north coast of New South Wales, and ten years 11 00:00:49,240 --> 00:00:52,600 Speaker 2: later we've still not found him. 12 00:00:53,240 --> 00:00:56,600 Speaker 1: He just shone this little smile and a bit of 13 00:00:56,640 --> 00:01:00,000 Speaker 1: swagger about him, but also a bit of a shark, 14 00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:03,080 Speaker 1: a shy guy as well. 15 00:01:04,400 --> 00:01:09,119 Speaker 2: But what about everything else, Like how the police say 16 00:01:09,160 --> 00:01:13,360 Speaker 2: they know what happened, they know why, they know how, 17 00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:18,360 Speaker 2: they know where William is. The police suspect William's foster 18 00:01:18,440 --> 00:01:23,880 Speaker 2: mother is involved, But what if they're wrong. I do 19 00:01:24,040 --> 00:01:27,399 Speaker 2: know there are other people with no alibi for what 20 00:01:27,480 --> 00:01:30,800 Speaker 2: they were doing on the morning William vanished, who have 21 00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:34,840 Speaker 2: never been asked to explain that in public, And I 22 00:01:34,920 --> 00:01:37,440 Speaker 2: do know there are gaps in the evidence. 23 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:43,040 Speaker 1: And then obviously we've watched lots of home videos and yes, 24 00:01:43,800 --> 00:01:47,400 Speaker 1: he's giggle and I heard that giggle in real life, 25 00:01:48,680 --> 00:01:56,480 Speaker 1: and it's dynamic, and it's beautiful and it's vibrant, and yeah, 26 00:01:56,560 --> 00:02:04,960 Speaker 1: he's just a sweet boy. 27 00:02:08,440 --> 00:02:12,200 Speaker 2: I do know the police did get some things wrong 28 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:16,480 Speaker 2: going right back to the beginning, and real people's lives 29 00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:20,040 Speaker 2: were damaged as a result, including the lives of children. 30 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:25,320 Speaker 2: This case has left a trail of broken lives behind it, 31 00:02:25,919 --> 00:02:28,880 Speaker 2: and a lot of what you've seen in the newspapers, 32 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:33,360 Speaker 2: on TV, or social media is mistaken or misleading. 33 00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:38,400 Speaker 1: One of the challenges that I think has been a 34 00:02:38,440 --> 00:02:42,000 Speaker 1: part of William's disappearance is that there are many people 35 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:44,840 Speaker 1: who have their own stories. 36 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:49,639 Speaker 2: So where do we start with this story? Well, how 37 00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:51,160 Speaker 2: about with William's parents. 38 00:02:52,120 --> 00:02:55,120 Speaker 1: William is not a post a child for somebody else. 39 00:02:55,800 --> 00:02:59,760 Speaker 1: He's not a campaign, He's not a vehicle for somebody 40 00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:05,600 Speaker 1: else to express their own view and disgruntledness. 41 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:09,080 Speaker 2: One thing you might not know is, at the time 42 00:03:09,160 --> 00:03:13,480 Speaker 2: William went missing, legally, his parents were not the couple 43 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:17,519 Speaker 2: who conceived him. His parents weren't the foster careers he 44 00:03:17,680 --> 00:03:20,120 Speaker 2: was living with on the day he disappeared. 45 00:03:21,240 --> 00:03:24,960 Speaker 1: William has his own story. William is his own person, 46 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:31,720 Speaker 1: William's family in many ways has been exploited by other 47 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:34,920 Speaker 1: people with their own agendas of what they want to achieve. 48 00:03:36,440 --> 00:03:39,160 Speaker 2: As a foster child. There was a court order in 49 00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:42,160 Speaker 2: place which meant William was under what the law called 50 00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:46,080 Speaker 2: the parental responsibility of a state government minister. 51 00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:51,400 Speaker 1: And I think that that's a really sad. I think 52 00:03:51,440 --> 00:03:55,680 Speaker 1: it's an indictment on ours as a society that we 53 00:03:55,920 --> 00:03:58,640 Speaker 1: allow that to happen, and that we hunger for that 54 00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:02,840 Speaker 1: when we go clicking through social media and all kinds 55 00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:04,320 Speaker 1: of things looking for that stuff. 56 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:08,160 Speaker 2: But of course the minister didn't do the day to 57 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:13,120 Speaker 2: day parenting. That responsibility was passed on. So the person 58 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:16,719 Speaker 2: who decided if William went on holiday, who was told 59 00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:19,880 Speaker 2: if he got sick or injured, Who was responsible for 60 00:04:19,960 --> 00:04:23,159 Speaker 2: his health and his safety? Whose job it was to 61 00:04:23,320 --> 00:04:28,120 Speaker 2: know where William was? So his parent that was this woman, 62 00:04:28,680 --> 00:04:29,479 Speaker 2: Michelle White. 63 00:04:30,440 --> 00:04:34,440 Speaker 1: William deserves to have his own story. He shouldn't be 64 00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:38,320 Speaker 1: exploited for any other purpose. 65 00:04:40,040 --> 00:04:42,960 Speaker 2: I'm Dan box and from news dot com dot Au. 66 00:04:43,160 --> 00:04:45,480 Speaker 2: This is witness William till. 67 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:52,160 Speaker 1: Yeah, hi, my son. 68 00:04:51,960 --> 00:04:53,400 Speaker 3: Did you think he's three and a half? 69 00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:59,880 Speaker 2: You're this is a triple ocor where William's foster mother 70 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:05,680 Speaker 2: is reporting him missing to police. This is the twelfth 71 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:09,599 Speaker 2: of September twenty fourteen, a Friday, and it's at ten 72 00:05:09,800 --> 00:05:14,719 Speaker 2: fifty six am, and that time will become important. His 73 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:18,400 Speaker 2: foster mother says William went missing around ten thirty am. 74 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:22,680 Speaker 2: And later his foster mother would get criticized for this 75 00:05:22,800 --> 00:05:25,880 Speaker 2: call for being too calm. People will say that a 76 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:27,360 Speaker 2: real mother wouldn't do that. 77 00:05:27,960 --> 00:05:32,039 Speaker 3: And we hear y roaring around the garden and I 78 00:05:32,080 --> 00:05:34,960 Speaker 3: haven't heard him a bit of go on him in Okay. 79 00:05:36,160 --> 00:05:38,839 Speaker 2: You can make your own mind up. When I listen 80 00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:41,279 Speaker 2: to this, I wonder if I can hear a woman 81 00:05:41,320 --> 00:05:44,640 Speaker 2: who's just holding it together, who's doing her best to 82 00:05:44,680 --> 00:05:47,240 Speaker 2: tell the police what they need to know to help 83 00:05:47,279 --> 00:05:50,920 Speaker 2: her child, because right now the stakes couldn't be higher. 84 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:55,440 Speaker 2: Thousands of children are reported missing every year in Australia, 85 00:05:55,880 --> 00:05:59,760 Speaker 2: but most are found within hours or days or a week. 86 00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:02,039 Speaker 4: Wasn't anyone US in the area. 87 00:06:02,320 --> 00:06:07,880 Speaker 2: People Around a dozen children die by homicide each year, 88 00:06:08,440 --> 00:06:12,760 Speaker 2: and most are killed by someone in their family. A few, 89 00:06:13,600 --> 00:06:17,960 Speaker 2: and it's a very few are abducted, but it does happen. 90 00:06:18,920 --> 00:06:22,039 Speaker 2: There's one US study that shows that three quarters of 91 00:06:22,120 --> 00:06:26,880 Speaker 2: children who are abducted are murdered within the first three hours, 92 00:06:27,640 --> 00:06:30,440 Speaker 2: and nine out of ten of them are dead within 93 00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:31,160 Speaker 2: the first. 94 00:06:30,960 --> 00:06:37,599 Speaker 3: Day's probably near state borest. Okay, we've walked up and 95 00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:38,960 Speaker 3: down and we can't find in. 96 00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:44,479 Speaker 2: This call is being made from William Thiol's foster grandmother's house. 97 00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:49,480 Speaker 2: So that's the house of his foster mother's mum. It's 98 00:06:49,520 --> 00:06:52,440 Speaker 2: a big brick house on a dead end road called 99 00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:57,240 Speaker 2: Benaroon Drive. The road is quiet and it's empty. There's 100 00:06:57,240 --> 00:07:00,880 Speaker 2: a few houses, each of them on big blocks, and 101 00:07:00,920 --> 00:07:04,440 Speaker 2: the road doesn't lead anywhere, so you wouldn't go there 102 00:07:04,680 --> 00:07:08,680 Speaker 2: if you didn't have a reason to. Benuruin Drive is 103 00:07:08,720 --> 00:07:12,320 Speaker 2: a short way outside a small town called Kendall, which 104 00:07:12,360 --> 00:07:14,480 Speaker 2: is on the mid north coast of New South Wales. 105 00:07:15,280 --> 00:07:17,880 Speaker 2: The town's named after a poet, Henry Kendall, and he 106 00:07:17,920 --> 00:07:20,640 Speaker 2: wrote about the eucalypt forest and the sound of the 107 00:07:20,680 --> 00:07:23,960 Speaker 2: bell birds in the morning, and that kind of suits 108 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:26,960 Speaker 2: the place. When you drive into Kendall, you go over 109 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:30,360 Speaker 2: the bridge, then you cross a railway line and then 110 00:07:30,400 --> 00:07:32,480 Speaker 2: you go up past the village green and there's a 111 00:07:32,480 --> 00:07:36,320 Speaker 2: war memorial and it's surrounded by bush there's just a 112 00:07:36,360 --> 00:07:39,880 Speaker 2: handful of shops and a few wooden houses. It's the 113 00:07:39,960 --> 00:07:43,080 Speaker 2: kind of place you'd move to if you wanted to 114 00:07:43,120 --> 00:07:46,360 Speaker 2: know your neighbors and you want to have them know 115 00:07:46,520 --> 00:07:51,840 Speaker 2: your business too. The first time I went to Kendall, 116 00:07:51,880 --> 00:07:55,240 Speaker 2: I flew in. I was a crime reporter for a newspaper, 117 00:07:55,240 --> 00:07:58,160 Speaker 2: and this was shortly after he went missing, and I 118 00:07:58,200 --> 00:08:03,240 Speaker 2: remember you were right over dense forest and looking down 119 00:08:03,280 --> 00:08:05,800 Speaker 2: out the plane window you could just see this thick, 120 00:08:06,400 --> 00:08:09,520 Speaker 2: tangled bush and in between it pools of what looked 121 00:08:09,520 --> 00:08:15,480 Speaker 2: like blackwater, and very few roads and hardly any paths, 122 00:08:15,520 --> 00:08:19,560 Speaker 2: and looking down from the air, I remember thinking, if 123 00:08:19,560 --> 00:08:23,680 Speaker 2: William is lost in that kind of country, we're never 124 00:08:23,720 --> 00:08:28,960 Speaker 2: going to find him. It's been ten years now since 125 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:33,240 Speaker 2: William disappeared, and he's still missing. So in this series, 126 00:08:33,400 --> 00:08:35,240 Speaker 2: we're going to look at the case in a way 127 00:08:35,280 --> 00:08:39,120 Speaker 2: that it hasn't been looked at before. We're not trying 128 00:08:39,200 --> 00:08:42,439 Speaker 2: to find William, but what we are going to do 129 00:08:43,040 --> 00:08:46,000 Speaker 2: is try to find out why it's taken police ten 130 00:08:46,160 --> 00:08:49,959 Speaker 2: years to find him and they still haven't done it. 131 00:08:51,160 --> 00:08:53,520 Speaker 2: We're going to look at what they've done right and 132 00:08:53,559 --> 00:08:56,480 Speaker 2: what they've done wrong, and We're going to see how 133 00:08:56,520 --> 00:08:59,560 Speaker 2: those decisions would come to damage the lives of so 134 00:08:59,679 --> 00:09:04,400 Speaker 2: many people in ways that no one talks about. And 135 00:09:04,480 --> 00:09:07,680 Speaker 2: I don't know what answers we're going to find, at 136 00:09:07,800 --> 00:09:11,520 Speaker 2: least not yet, but I do know that we are 137 00:09:11,640 --> 00:09:14,960 Speaker 2: going to find some answers. 138 00:09:20,520 --> 00:09:22,680 Speaker 1: Hello, Michelle White speaking. 139 00:09:22,559 --> 00:09:24,920 Speaker 2: We're going to start at the beginning. It's me just 140 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:28,520 Speaker 2: talking with the woman you heard from at the start 141 00:09:28,559 --> 00:09:29,320 Speaker 2: of this episode. 142 00:09:29,480 --> 00:09:31,319 Speaker 1: It just feels so weird when you're just doing the 143 00:09:31,360 --> 00:09:31,840 Speaker 1: sound check. 144 00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:34,800 Speaker 2: Doesn't it just confirm that you are happy that this 145 00:09:34,920 --> 00:09:35,600 Speaker 2: be recorded. 146 00:09:36,120 --> 00:09:37,880 Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, happy. 147 00:09:38,600 --> 00:09:40,680 Speaker 2: If you would introduce yourself in your role, what would 148 00:09:40,679 --> 00:09:41,000 Speaker 2: you say? 149 00:09:42,520 --> 00:09:47,800 Speaker 1: So, my name is Michelle and my role was the 150 00:09:47,920 --> 00:09:51,000 Speaker 1: director and principal officer of the non government out of 151 00:09:51,000 --> 00:09:56,680 Speaker 1: home care organization that had responsibility for the care of 152 00:09:56,720 --> 00:10:01,520 Speaker 1: William and the authorization of his foster cares. 153 00:10:02,120 --> 00:10:04,560 Speaker 2: What did you like about the job? 154 00:10:05,679 --> 00:10:09,199 Speaker 1: There was so much I loved about working at Young Hope. 155 00:10:09,679 --> 00:10:13,640 Speaker 1: I founded the service children don't choose to come into care. 156 00:10:14,240 --> 00:10:19,000 Speaker 1: Children love their families irrespective of the circumstances that bring 157 00:10:19,040 --> 00:10:23,520 Speaker 1: them into care. So being able to work with their 158 00:10:23,559 --> 00:10:27,240 Speaker 1: families and work with their cares to create safe places 159 00:10:27,559 --> 00:10:30,800 Speaker 1: and help them to see who they are and to 160 00:10:31,160 --> 00:10:34,160 Speaker 1: help them to dream big dreams for their futures. 161 00:10:34,960 --> 00:10:37,280 Speaker 2: This is the first time Michelle was given an interview 162 00:10:37,320 --> 00:10:40,240 Speaker 2: to a journalist, and she and I are sitting in 163 00:10:40,320 --> 00:10:43,960 Speaker 2: her house in a small office, surrounded by stacks of paper. 164 00:10:44,080 --> 00:10:47,800 Speaker 2: There's a filing cabinet and outside it there's children's toys 165 00:10:47,880 --> 00:10:51,280 Speaker 2: just everywhere across the floor. You can hear in her 166 00:10:51,400 --> 00:10:56,960 Speaker 2: voice that Michelle is serious, She's quite intent, and that's 167 00:10:57,000 --> 00:11:02,280 Speaker 2: because her job is important. Understand why it's important. You 168 00:11:02,360 --> 00:11:06,640 Speaker 2: need to understand the system she was working in. Kids 169 00:11:06,720 --> 00:11:10,640 Speaker 2: get taken away from their birth families because the government 170 00:11:10,720 --> 00:11:13,960 Speaker 2: thinks it needs to protect them because their families can't. 171 00:11:15,160 --> 00:11:18,720 Speaker 2: But that government system has always struggled for funding. There's 172 00:11:18,800 --> 00:11:22,960 Speaker 2: never been enough money. And at the time William went missing, 173 00:11:23,160 --> 00:11:26,560 Speaker 2: the system was also going through huge change. All those 174 00:11:26,679 --> 00:11:29,560 Speaker 2: children that were in government care were being transferred to 175 00:11:29,679 --> 00:11:33,560 Speaker 2: third party providers like the organization called Young Hope, which 176 00:11:33,640 --> 00:11:35,120 Speaker 2: Michelle founded. 177 00:11:35,640 --> 00:11:40,960 Speaker 1: And that was quite an intensive transfer period and it 178 00:11:41,040 --> 00:11:43,480 Speaker 1: meant a lot of new service providers came on board. 179 00:11:44,080 --> 00:11:47,520 Speaker 2: So you got this huge process of reform of change. 180 00:11:48,320 --> 00:11:51,880 Speaker 2: Was it working or was problems being thrown up. 181 00:11:55,240 --> 00:11:56,199 Speaker 1: I'm not going to answer that. 182 00:11:57,400 --> 00:12:01,080 Speaker 2: Yeah, but there were problems. There were agreements over money, 183 00:12:01,600 --> 00:12:05,360 Speaker 2: there was problems with the paperwork. One example of that 184 00:12:05,559 --> 00:12:10,280 Speaker 2: is that the single document confirming when William Pile started 185 00:12:10,360 --> 00:12:13,080 Speaker 2: foster care says that he started on the fifth of 186 00:12:13,120 --> 00:12:16,960 Speaker 2: September twenty thirteen, so the year before he went missing, 187 00:12:17,520 --> 00:12:20,920 Speaker 2: But the document is dated the twenty first of either 188 00:12:21,320 --> 00:12:25,320 Speaker 2: October or November twenty fourteen. It's hard to read with 189 00:12:25,400 --> 00:12:32,000 Speaker 2: the handwriting, but either way, that's after he disappeared, regardless 190 00:12:32,040 --> 00:12:35,320 Speaker 2: of the date on the document. Though, William's foster careers 191 00:12:35,360 --> 00:12:40,480 Speaker 2: were already looking after him before Michelle took over responsibility 192 00:12:40,600 --> 00:12:41,559 Speaker 2: for that placement. 193 00:12:42,920 --> 00:12:47,920 Speaker 1: So the way that William and his foster cares came 194 00:12:48,040 --> 00:12:50,600 Speaker 1: to be with Young Hope is that there was a 195 00:12:50,600 --> 00:12:54,960 Speaker 1: process of transition from the Department of Communities and Justice, 196 00:12:55,400 --> 00:12:59,200 Speaker 1: and William's careers had identified that they would like to 197 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:03,680 Speaker 1: seider coming across to Young Hope, and so I met 198 00:13:03,720 --> 00:13:07,960 Speaker 1: with them and we didn't just accept that they were 199 00:13:08,280 --> 00:13:11,120 Speaker 1: fit and proper based on somebody else's assessment. We did 200 00:13:11,160 --> 00:13:14,280 Speaker 1: our own independent assessment. I think that if I am 201 00:13:14,520 --> 00:13:20,839 Speaker 1: ultimately legally responsible for children under my care and ultimately 202 00:13:21,200 --> 00:13:25,280 Speaker 1: signing off on decisions that impact the future lives of 203 00:13:25,440 --> 00:13:31,119 Speaker 1: children that I need to be informed by some knowledge 204 00:13:31,160 --> 00:13:34,120 Speaker 1: of them and get to know them to some degree. 205 00:13:35,360 --> 00:13:38,800 Speaker 2: One of the decisions that Michelle still lives with is 206 00:13:38,800 --> 00:13:42,200 Speaker 2: that she gave approval for William's foster care is to 207 00:13:42,240 --> 00:13:45,520 Speaker 2: take him to Kendall, which is where he went missing. 208 00:13:46,720 --> 00:13:49,720 Speaker 2: It was a family trip to visit his foster grandmother. 209 00:13:50,240 --> 00:13:53,120 Speaker 2: They'd made it before, they'd been given approval before, but 210 00:13:53,200 --> 00:13:55,040 Speaker 2: Michelle did allow it. 211 00:13:56,760 --> 00:14:02,720 Speaker 1: William was a child who was under the care of 212 00:14:02,760 --> 00:14:12,480 Speaker 1: an organization I had responsibility for. Whilst I am not 213 00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:21,240 Speaker 1: responsible for William's disappearance, I had responsibility for him, and 214 00:14:21,320 --> 00:14:25,240 Speaker 1: so I made a very strong commitment to myself and 215 00:14:25,280 --> 00:14:32,560 Speaker 1: to him that I would not walk out on finding 216 00:14:32,640 --> 00:14:39,040 Speaker 1: out what has happened to him. 217 00:14:41,760 --> 00:14:44,560 Speaker 2: Michelle's been interviewed by police more than once over the 218 00:14:44,640 --> 00:14:47,880 Speaker 2: years after William went missing. She flew up to Kendall 219 00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:50,680 Speaker 2: to spend time with his foster family. That was part 220 00:14:50,800 --> 00:14:51,400 Speaker 2: of her job. 221 00:14:52,760 --> 00:14:58,000 Speaker 1: I expected to arrive to years that William had been found. 222 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:06,880 Speaker 1: There were masses of people looking for William, looking for 223 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:10,680 Speaker 1: him everywhere the longer William went missing, the more and 224 00:15:10,680 --> 00:15:15,160 Speaker 1: more resources came to try and find him. Everything from 225 00:15:15,400 --> 00:15:21,840 Speaker 1: police on motorbikes, horses, divers, They went in drains, they 226 00:15:21,880 --> 00:15:25,880 Speaker 1: cleared ponds, they pumped things out, they went in dams, 227 00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:29,440 Speaker 1: they went in waterways, they went through the houses in 228 00:15:29,480 --> 00:15:33,880 Speaker 1: the block multiple times. Under round about it was. I 229 00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:40,880 Speaker 1: sat in the house with William's sister and it was 230 00:15:40,960 --> 00:15:47,160 Speaker 1: searched multiple times. On one occasion, officers from the Public 231 00:15:47,280 --> 00:15:49,520 Speaker 1: Order and Riot squad came through and we actually had 232 00:15:49,560 --> 00:15:51,520 Speaker 1: to get off the lounge and they lifted up the 233 00:15:51,560 --> 00:15:55,640 Speaker 1: cushions and they even took photos off the wall and 234 00:15:55,680 --> 00:15:59,800 Speaker 1: looked behind the photos, and you know, it was that 235 00:16:00,120 --> 00:16:04,600 Speaker 1: kind of extentive of search. I remember under the house 236 00:16:04,880 --> 00:16:08,360 Speaker 1: was this big mound of dirt. I don't even know 237 00:16:08,400 --> 00:16:10,880 Speaker 1: how else to describe it. I'm not even sure what 238 00:16:10,880 --> 00:16:14,440 Speaker 1: it was, but remember feeling really helpless a few times, 239 00:16:14,480 --> 00:16:16,920 Speaker 1: and even I myself climbed in under there just to 240 00:16:16,960 --> 00:16:20,680 Speaker 1: even look. Of course, he wasn't there, he wasn't there, 241 00:16:20,840 --> 00:16:21,760 Speaker 1: he wasn't there. 242 00:16:25,080 --> 00:16:28,760 Speaker 2: Michelle also watched Williams foster parents. This is what she 243 00:16:28,880 --> 00:16:32,520 Speaker 2: was trained for. Her job was to protect the welfare 244 00:16:32,560 --> 00:16:35,160 Speaker 2: of the children in her care, and if something happened 245 00:16:35,160 --> 00:16:37,840 Speaker 2: to one of them, her job was to ask questions. 246 00:16:38,360 --> 00:16:42,160 Speaker 2: Her mind had to go to those bad places. Michelle 247 00:16:42,280 --> 00:16:45,240 Speaker 2: knows the statistics that show that if a child gets 248 00:16:45,320 --> 00:16:52,040 Speaker 2: hurt or worse, mostly almost always, it's those closest to 249 00:16:52,200 --> 00:16:55,640 Speaker 2: them who were to blame. I asked her what she 250 00:16:55,720 --> 00:16:57,560 Speaker 2: saw in Williams's foster parents. 251 00:16:58,360 --> 00:17:11,680 Speaker 1: Absolute distress, visceral distress. I remember when I first arrived 252 00:17:11,880 --> 00:17:18,600 Speaker 1: and the male foster Caira collapsing into me and sobbing 253 00:17:18,640 --> 00:17:31,040 Speaker 1: into my neck, the female foster Kira, collapsing at different 254 00:17:31,080 --> 00:17:35,000 Speaker 1: points and having to lift her from the ground where 255 00:17:35,040 --> 00:17:43,360 Speaker 1: she'd collapsed, heaving sobs of where is he? 256 00:17:43,440 --> 00:17:43,960 Speaker 2: Where is he? 257 00:17:44,160 --> 00:17:48,720 Speaker 1: You know, then getting information, oh, we might have found him. 258 00:17:50,920 --> 00:17:54,080 Speaker 2: Almost from the moment william disappeared, there was confusion. There 259 00:17:54,080 --> 00:17:57,640 Speaker 2: were sightings of him, there were rumors, people said they'd 260 00:17:57,720 --> 00:17:59,920 Speaker 2: seen him all over. 261 00:17:59,720 --> 00:18:03,320 Speaker 1: The and I remember, in one particular time being told, oh, 262 00:18:03,400 --> 00:18:06,600 Speaker 1: we've might have found him, and the three of us 263 00:18:06,600 --> 00:18:10,360 Speaker 1: separately being showed a photo of a little boy that 264 00:18:10,359 --> 00:18:12,879 Speaker 1: they thought they'd found, and all of us thinking it 265 00:18:12,960 --> 00:18:18,639 Speaker 1: might be him. But it constantly misses with your mind 266 00:18:18,720 --> 00:18:21,000 Speaker 1: and just the ups and downs of that journey and 267 00:18:21,119 --> 00:18:25,760 Speaker 1: just going it was a completely surreal world. 268 00:18:26,480 --> 00:18:30,439 Speaker 2: And at the time or looking back, did you see 269 00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:35,480 Speaker 2: anything that made you doubt the foster parents or believe 270 00:18:36,480 --> 00:18:39,840 Speaker 2: there might be something more than they were telling you 271 00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:41,200 Speaker 2: about what happened? 272 00:18:42,640 --> 00:18:45,080 Speaker 1: Not at all, not once. 273 00:18:48,440 --> 00:18:52,040 Speaker 2: And given. Since William went missing, there have been years 274 00:18:52,040 --> 00:18:56,720 Speaker 2: of police investigation. Now there's been a coronial inquest into 275 00:18:56,840 --> 00:19:02,680 Speaker 2: his apparent death. Has anyone asked you about what you 276 00:19:02,800 --> 00:19:06,280 Speaker 2: saw in those first few days when you were with 277 00:19:06,560 --> 00:19:07,600 Speaker 2: his foster parents. 278 00:19:09,200 --> 00:19:11,520 Speaker 1: Nobody has asked me about what I observed in his 279 00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:13,440 Speaker 1: foster parents those first few days. 280 00:19:13,480 --> 00:19:20,800 Speaker 2: No, Michelle did keep extensive records though, questioning what she 281 00:19:20,880 --> 00:19:24,760 Speaker 2: saw in the days, weeks, and months that followed. These 282 00:19:24,800 --> 00:19:27,720 Speaker 2: have since been tended in court, so were public records. 283 00:19:28,640 --> 00:19:33,679 Speaker 2: Then in recent years the police came asking other questions. 284 00:19:34,280 --> 00:19:43,000 Speaker 1: Yes, I was interviewed about William's disappearance, and he became 285 00:19:43,119 --> 00:19:51,919 Speaker 1: evident during that interview that happened in October of twenty 286 00:19:52,040 --> 00:20:02,680 Speaker 1: twenty one that the investigation appeared to be making inquiries 287 00:20:02,720 --> 00:20:08,520 Speaker 1: of the female foster care and I was very surprised 288 00:20:09,359 --> 00:20:17,680 Speaker 1: about that angle, and there were questions being asked that 289 00:20:17,840 --> 00:20:20,520 Speaker 1: made no sense to me. 290 00:20:21,880 --> 00:20:25,320 Speaker 2: One possible reason that their questions didn't make any sense 291 00:20:25,359 --> 00:20:28,000 Speaker 2: to Michelle is that she was on heavy painkillers at 292 00:20:28,040 --> 00:20:29,520 Speaker 2: the time following an operation. 293 00:20:30,760 --> 00:20:35,520 Speaker 1: They seemed to be focus on apparent different things. 294 00:20:36,320 --> 00:20:38,600 Speaker 2: This was a few years ago and the current strike 295 00:20:38,680 --> 00:20:41,000 Speaker 2: force who are now working on the case, and two 296 00:20:41,040 --> 00:20:44,880 Speaker 2: detectives who turned up at Michelle's door without warning saying 297 00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:48,240 Speaker 2: they needed to do an interview. Michelle says she was 298 00:20:48,240 --> 00:20:51,320 Speaker 2: in her pajamas. She says she told the detectives she 299 00:20:51,440 --> 00:20:55,120 Speaker 2: was on this medication, but they went ahead with the interview. 300 00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:58,560 Speaker 1: I've never been asked about what I observed. I was 301 00:20:58,600 --> 00:21:02,640 Speaker 1: in the home with William's foster parents. I spent all 302 00:21:02,720 --> 00:21:07,119 Speaker 1: day every day with them for I think it was 303 00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:11,280 Speaker 1: nine days after William disappeared. I was on the property. 304 00:21:11,720 --> 00:21:15,120 Speaker 1: I walked around the property. I took photos of the property. 305 00:21:15,880 --> 00:21:19,320 Speaker 1: I did all of that, and they weren't making inquiries 306 00:21:20,040 --> 00:21:21,040 Speaker 1: about those things. 307 00:21:22,240 --> 00:21:24,959 Speaker 2: When you were being interviewed by them, and I think 308 00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:27,680 Speaker 2: you were talking to them for five hours or thereabouts, 309 00:21:28,760 --> 00:21:32,920 Speaker 2: did they give you a sense of what they were 310 00:21:33,040 --> 00:21:38,639 Speaker 2: thinking William's foster mother may have done. 311 00:21:40,760 --> 00:21:49,800 Speaker 1: No, they didn't, Just that they implied that she had 312 00:21:49,840 --> 00:21:52,640 Speaker 1: something to do with William's disappearance and that all would 313 00:21:52,720 --> 00:21:57,800 Speaker 1: be forthcoming in a few days. Interestingly, at the time, 314 00:21:58,480 --> 00:22:05,080 Speaker 1: Cleo was missing in Western Australia, and during that interview 315 00:22:05,640 --> 00:22:10,359 Speaker 1: they said to me, surely you know you don't think 316 00:22:10,359 --> 00:22:13,119 Speaker 1: that somebody else has come into the tent. You can't 317 00:22:13,119 --> 00:22:14,800 Speaker 1: tell me that you wouldn't hear the zipper. 318 00:22:16,119 --> 00:22:19,480 Speaker 2: To understand this, you need to know about another missing child, 319 00:22:19,840 --> 00:22:21,879 Speaker 2: four year old Cleosmith. 320 00:22:21,560 --> 00:22:24,600 Speaker 5: Living first tonight, a young wa family is in the 321 00:22:24,600 --> 00:22:28,520 Speaker 5: middle of a nightmare ordeal. Their little girl is missing 322 00:22:28,600 --> 00:22:32,399 Speaker 5: after vanishing from their tent at a remote campsite in 323 00:22:32,440 --> 00:22:33,240 Speaker 5: the state's north. 324 00:22:33,359 --> 00:22:35,520 Speaker 2: Searching the fence line for fingerprints. 325 00:22:35,680 --> 00:22:39,800 Speaker 4: Forensics today examining the family home of four year old 326 00:22:39,920 --> 00:22:40,800 Speaker 4: Cleo Smith. 327 00:22:41,400 --> 00:22:42,880 Speaker 2: Hurry up, my daughter's gone. 328 00:22:43,960 --> 00:22:48,000 Speaker 6: How old your daughter us? 329 00:22:49,720 --> 00:22:52,840 Speaker 2: Cleo was camping with her family in Western Australia on 330 00:22:52,880 --> 00:22:56,480 Speaker 2: the sixteenth of October twenty twenty one, and she went 331 00:22:56,680 --> 00:22:59,880 Speaker 2: missing from a tent in which her family was sleeping. 332 00:23:00,840 --> 00:23:04,120 Speaker 2: So at the time the Western Australia Police were investigating 333 00:23:04,200 --> 00:23:09,080 Speaker 2: that disappearance, the New South Wales detectives were asking Michelle 334 00:23:09,200 --> 00:23:11,080 Speaker 2: questions about William going missing. 335 00:23:11,680 --> 00:23:14,760 Speaker 1: They asked me what I thought had happened to Cleo, 336 00:23:15,960 --> 00:23:20,760 Speaker 1: and I said that I didn't know. They said words 337 00:23:20,800 --> 00:23:24,680 Speaker 1: to the effect of, surely you'd hear somebody undoing a 338 00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:27,120 Speaker 1: zipper if your child was sleeping next to you, and 339 00:23:27,359 --> 00:23:32,000 Speaker 1: I took it to mean that, yeah, surely, if there's 340 00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:35,679 Speaker 1: no other answers that are apparent, then it's the parent, 341 00:23:36,960 --> 00:23:42,920 Speaker 1: and the implication being similar in the situation of William missing, 342 00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:47,400 Speaker 1: when there's no other clear answer, it must be her. 343 00:23:48,880 --> 00:23:49,800 Speaker 2: And what did you think of that? 344 00:23:51,119 --> 00:23:55,119 Speaker 1: I became upset with them, and I said, are you 345 00:23:55,240 --> 00:23:58,960 Speaker 1: telling me that, after this many years, this is the 346 00:23:58,960 --> 00:24:04,520 Speaker 1: best you've got? And the interviewing officer became angry with 347 00:24:04,600 --> 00:24:07,680 Speaker 1: me and began to raise his voice and said he's 348 00:24:07,720 --> 00:24:10,600 Speaker 1: been working on this three year and he's focused on 349 00:24:10,680 --> 00:24:13,840 Speaker 1: finding William. And he was implying to me that he 350 00:24:13,920 --> 00:24:16,879 Speaker 1: was the only person who cared about finding William. I 351 00:24:16,960 --> 00:24:21,879 Speaker 1: became quite upset and began to cry, and I said, 352 00:24:22,200 --> 00:24:24,439 Speaker 1: quite abruptly to him, don't you dare sit in my 353 00:24:24,520 --> 00:24:28,560 Speaker 1: home and accuse me of not caring about William. And 354 00:24:28,600 --> 00:24:31,000 Speaker 1: I pointed to a picture that I had sitting on 355 00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:34,639 Speaker 1: a filing cabinet and said you may have been working 356 00:24:34,640 --> 00:24:36,159 Speaker 1: on this for a year, but I've lived with this 357 00:24:36,320 --> 00:24:39,639 Speaker 1: since Williams disappeared and he backed off. 358 00:24:40,840 --> 00:24:43,120 Speaker 2: And that's that photograph you've got on the filing cabinet 359 00:24:43,119 --> 00:24:51,600 Speaker 2: there it is. In Cleo's case, it turned out it 360 00:24:51,760 --> 00:24:53,600 Speaker 2: wasn't her family who abducted her. 361 00:24:53,680 --> 00:24:57,480 Speaker 7: It is one of the most extraordinary stories of the year. 362 00:24:57,640 --> 00:25:00,919 Speaker 7: Four year old Cleo Smith this morning has been found. 363 00:25:00,640 --> 00:25:04,560 Speaker 8: Alive and well police breaking into a locked home in 364 00:25:04,640 --> 00:25:14,640 Speaker 8: Canarvan where she was found in a room. 365 00:25:14,760 --> 00:25:16,920 Speaker 2: I can confirm that we have a man from Canarvon 366 00:25:16,960 --> 00:25:19,480 Speaker 2: in custody who is currently being questioned by detectives. 367 00:25:19,600 --> 00:25:22,560 Speaker 1: Kidnapper, the doll obsessed loner Terence Kelly. 368 00:25:22,720 --> 00:25:26,120 Speaker 3: Little Cleo left locked in a room allowed radio used 369 00:25:26,119 --> 00:25:27,359 Speaker 3: to conceal her cries. 370 00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:30,760 Speaker 8: He had his fantasies and he was trying to make 371 00:25:30,840 --> 00:25:32,359 Speaker 8: them come to life. 372 00:25:32,680 --> 00:25:34,800 Speaker 1: It just happened to be that it was our. 373 00:25:34,680 --> 00:25:39,879 Speaker 2: Tent that he got into. The point being that in 374 00:25:39,920 --> 00:25:43,159 Speaker 2: the vast majority of cases it does turn out to 375 00:25:43,200 --> 00:25:48,720 Speaker 2: be the parents, but not all. In Cleo's case, her 376 00:25:48,760 --> 00:25:53,840 Speaker 2: family didn't hear the tent zipper. The New South Wales 377 00:25:53,920 --> 00:25:58,080 Speaker 2: Police are now focused on William's foster mother. They went 378 00:25:58,200 --> 00:26:01,960 Speaker 2: to charter her. So only one of two things can 379 00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:05,760 Speaker 2: be true. Either the police are right and she's a 380 00:26:05,760 --> 00:26:09,800 Speaker 2: criminal and she has misled the entire country for ten 381 00:26:09,920 --> 00:26:15,840 Speaker 2: years by seeming to be an innocent grieving mother, or 382 00:26:16,240 --> 00:26:20,520 Speaker 2: the police are wrong, and that matters because William is 383 00:26:20,560 --> 00:26:36,000 Speaker 2: not the only child that's been taken from those foster parents. 384 00:26:31,400 --> 00:26:34,399 Speaker 4: And that someone else's house a foster home, and I 385 00:26:34,440 --> 00:26:36,520 Speaker 4: want to go to your house, and I love this one. 386 00:26:37,280 --> 00:26:40,600 Speaker 2: Yes, we'll talk about this more later in the series, 387 00:26:41,280 --> 00:26:44,600 Speaker 2: but I'm legally prevented from telling you who that child is. 388 00:26:45,640 --> 00:26:50,000 Speaker 2: So much of this case is surrounded in secrecy. Right 389 00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:53,280 Speaker 2: from the beginning, there's been almost two versions of this story. 390 00:26:53,600 --> 00:26:57,200 Speaker 2: What the police and the media knew about William's disappearance 391 00:26:57,600 --> 00:27:00,760 Speaker 2: and what the public were allowed to be told, and 392 00:27:00,800 --> 00:27:05,040 Speaker 2: the space between them was vast. Right at the beginning, 393 00:27:05,080 --> 00:27:08,840 Speaker 2: the state government even said that the fact William was 394 00:27:08,880 --> 00:27:12,560 Speaker 2: a foster child couldn't be made public. I remember getting 395 00:27:12,600 --> 00:27:16,200 Speaker 2: the emails that said journalists could go to prison if 396 00:27:16,240 --> 00:27:21,239 Speaker 2: we did print that. Even today, we can't name or 397 00:27:21,280 --> 00:27:26,080 Speaker 2: identify William's foster cares, and so much else about this 398 00:27:26,240 --> 00:27:32,439 Speaker 2: case is still secret. There's been inquest hearings behind closed doors. 399 00:27:32,640 --> 00:27:36,000 Speaker 2: There's been statutory bars on what we can and can't report. 400 00:27:36,040 --> 00:27:39,679 Speaker 2: There's been court orders suppressing what we can say. I 401 00:27:39,720 --> 00:27:42,879 Speaker 2: remember going to one court registry and asking to see 402 00:27:43,240 --> 00:27:47,399 Speaker 2: the publicly available documents relating to William's disappearance and just 403 00:27:47,480 --> 00:27:50,920 Speaker 2: being told, don't even bother filling in the form. That 404 00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:54,600 Speaker 2: thing is suppressed. It's closed down. You'll never get it. 405 00:27:55,240 --> 00:27:58,840 Speaker 2: All this secrecy is supposed to protect witnesses and the 406 00:27:58,960 --> 00:28:03,440 Speaker 2: chance of getting a prosecution, but it also protects the police. 407 00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:07,080 Speaker 2: We're just supposed to trust them. 408 00:28:07,320 --> 00:28:08,720 Speaker 5: Hello, true crimer errs. 409 00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:11,600 Speaker 4: This is the case of William Tyrrell. 410 00:28:11,920 --> 00:28:15,880 Speaker 2: And at the same time that secrecy creates speculation. 411 00:28:16,200 --> 00:28:19,679 Speaker 6: We've seen some pretty major updates in the disappearance of 412 00:28:19,800 --> 00:28:21,200 Speaker 6: three year old William Tyre. 413 00:28:21,480 --> 00:28:24,560 Speaker 2: Just moments after this photo was taken, this young boy. 414 00:28:27,800 --> 00:28:30,199 Speaker 1: And the inquest so she was babysiteing two young boys. 415 00:28:30,440 --> 00:28:32,520 Speaker 2: One of them said that he knew who killed William. 416 00:28:32,600 --> 00:28:36,040 Speaker 2: Seeing your detective has dropped a major bombshell in the mystery. 417 00:28:35,760 --> 00:28:38,960 Speaker 4: A spot communications session using me ap. 418 00:28:41,200 --> 00:28:44,600 Speaker 1: Who is responsible for William Tyrell's death. 419 00:28:45,440 --> 00:28:47,760 Speaker 2: Is it possible that William was spotted playing at his 420 00:28:47,800 --> 00:28:53,720 Speaker 2: foster grandmother's place and he was snatched. The worst of 421 00:28:53,760 --> 00:28:57,040 Speaker 2: this happens on the internet, but it also has real 422 00:28:57,080 --> 00:29:00,480 Speaker 2: effects in real life. 423 00:29:00,680 --> 00:29:04,000 Speaker 6: I can't recall if the word pedophile was used, but 424 00:29:04,600 --> 00:29:06,840 Speaker 6: there was certainly some suspicion. 425 00:29:06,920 --> 00:29:10,760 Speaker 2: I think this is Ben Outwood. He was William's caseworker, 426 00:29:10,840 --> 00:29:14,160 Speaker 2: meaning he worked with the birth and the foster families, 427 00:29:14,400 --> 00:29:18,520 Speaker 2: overseeing William's foster placement, trying to get the best for William. 428 00:29:19,800 --> 00:29:23,840 Speaker 6: Look, I can understand why they'd ask, because it's not 429 00:29:25,600 --> 00:29:28,080 Speaker 6: It's not normal that you take photos of a child 430 00:29:28,160 --> 00:29:31,520 Speaker 6: that's not yours and have the mon youphone. 431 00:29:31,720 --> 00:29:35,680 Speaker 2: Ben gave evidence in court about William's disappearance and he 432 00:29:35,760 --> 00:29:37,760 Speaker 2: became a target for online abuse. 433 00:29:38,760 --> 00:29:40,840 Speaker 6: It is normal in the sense that that was a 434 00:29:40,840 --> 00:29:43,200 Speaker 6: protocol that we had. We were issued with a work 435 00:29:43,240 --> 00:29:47,400 Speaker 6: phone with a camera because part of the purpose of 436 00:29:47,400 --> 00:29:52,760 Speaker 6: our visits was to document, you know, ordinary moments, so 437 00:29:52,800 --> 00:29:57,240 Speaker 6: that when William turned eighteen and got his file, he 438 00:29:57,320 --> 00:30:01,920 Speaker 6: would have not just case notes, which are legally necessary 439 00:30:01,960 --> 00:30:05,360 Speaker 6: and tell the story of his care, but he would 440 00:30:05,360 --> 00:30:07,680 Speaker 6: have just images of himself being a kid and having 441 00:30:07,680 --> 00:30:12,480 Speaker 6: a normal life. That was the purpose for which I 442 00:30:12,480 --> 00:30:15,720 Speaker 6: took images of William, whether it was pictures of him 443 00:30:15,880 --> 00:30:18,960 Speaker 6: with his birth mom and dad at contact, or whether 444 00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:19,480 Speaker 6: it was. 445 00:30:20,520 --> 00:30:22,320 Speaker 2: You know, stupid selfies. 446 00:30:24,640 --> 00:30:29,600 Speaker 6: Where he's wearing superhero costumes. You know, it was quite 447 00:30:29,640 --> 00:30:33,680 Speaker 6: normal for me, and I think my reaction when I 448 00:30:33,720 --> 00:30:40,280 Speaker 6: read those sort of suggestions was, well, you just don't 449 00:30:40,360 --> 00:30:42,400 Speaker 6: understand the reasoning. 450 00:30:43,520 --> 00:30:46,200 Speaker 2: Ben had those photos on his phone for a good reason. 451 00:30:46,440 --> 00:30:50,280 Speaker 2: It was his job. He cared about William. People said 452 00:30:50,320 --> 00:30:54,040 Speaker 2: the worst things about him online, things that just were 453 00:30:54,080 --> 00:30:58,200 Speaker 2: not true. But what people said about him is just 454 00:30:58,280 --> 00:31:02,080 Speaker 2: the tip of the iceberg of what's been said about others. 455 00:31:02,280 --> 00:31:06,680 Speaker 1: In this case, cocaine addict FF sold William to pedo ring. 456 00:31:06,960 --> 00:31:09,200 Speaker 8: I'm interested in seeing him in handcuffs. 457 00:31:09,640 --> 00:31:11,280 Speaker 2: Him and his wife and their mother. 458 00:31:11,720 --> 00:31:14,800 Speaker 1: Cold, cold people they are. How do they sleep at night? 459 00:31:15,080 --> 00:31:15,360 Speaker 7: Sleep? 460 00:31:15,680 --> 00:31:19,520 Speaker 2: Pedophil rapist Doc William has been murdered by his narcissistic 461 00:31:19,560 --> 00:31:23,200 Speaker 2: psychopath foster mother and the corpse, then dismembered and courted 462 00:31:23,240 --> 00:31:26,560 Speaker 2: for disposal by the besotted foster father motley crew of 463 00:31:26,680 --> 00:31:27,680 Speaker 2: pedophile mates. 464 00:31:27,800 --> 00:31:29,280 Speaker 1: He loves little boys. 465 00:31:29,600 --> 00:31:31,760 Speaker 2: Tell me to my face, I'm wrong, You weak dog 466 00:31:31,920 --> 00:31:32,560 Speaker 2: William has. 467 00:31:32,440 --> 00:31:34,959 Speaker 3: Been murdered, Name them and shame them, then send the 468 00:31:34,960 --> 00:31:37,480 Speaker 3: family the bill for the bullet. 469 00:31:37,560 --> 00:31:42,440 Speaker 2: All of this stuff is false, but the courts they 470 00:31:42,480 --> 00:31:46,360 Speaker 2: can't stop people publishing it. Nor can they stop them 471 00:31:46,440 --> 00:31:50,520 Speaker 2: sharing the names and addresses of William's birth and foster parents. 472 00:31:51,200 --> 00:31:54,560 Speaker 2: The courts can't stop them sharing images of their houses 473 00:31:54,600 --> 00:31:57,880 Speaker 2: from Google Earth, or stop them making road trips to 474 00:31:58,080 --> 00:32:01,560 Speaker 2: visit those houses. And when they get there, these people 475 00:32:01,880 --> 00:32:05,560 Speaker 2: take photographs of the houses and then share those online. 476 00:32:05,920 --> 00:32:09,320 Speaker 2: I've seen them turn up in court taking photographs of 477 00:32:09,360 --> 00:32:13,360 Speaker 2: themselves flashing V signs with the police in the background, 478 00:32:13,760 --> 00:32:18,440 Speaker 2: like there's some kind of celebrities in a homicide investigation. 479 00:32:19,800 --> 00:32:24,080 Speaker 2: Nor can the court stop the sharing of confidential documents 480 00:32:24,120 --> 00:32:30,320 Speaker 2: about this case, including witness statements, phone records, police interview transcripts. 481 00:32:30,360 --> 00:32:33,600 Speaker 2: All of these are now flying around online. I've been 482 00:32:33,800 --> 00:32:37,120 Speaker 2: sent them. And at the same time as the foster 483 00:32:37,240 --> 00:32:40,880 Speaker 2: parents are under all of this online surveillance, they're also 484 00:32:41,040 --> 00:32:45,000 Speaker 2: under police surveillance. They've had listening devices in their car 485 00:32:45,240 --> 00:32:48,240 Speaker 2: and in their home. They've had their phone calls intercepted, 486 00:32:48,920 --> 00:32:52,560 Speaker 2: surveillance cameras posted outside their house. They've been targeted by 487 00:32:52,640 --> 00:32:58,280 Speaker 2: undercover detectives. We can't tell you their names or show 488 00:32:58,280 --> 00:33:02,160 Speaker 2: you their photographs, but they been under almost total surveillance 489 00:33:02,240 --> 00:33:06,720 Speaker 2: now for years. It's like the police, the media, the public. 490 00:33:07,240 --> 00:33:09,680 Speaker 2: No one can stop talking about this case. 491 00:33:09,760 --> 00:33:12,160 Speaker 7: Good evening, We begin tonight with breaking news on one 492 00:33:12,200 --> 00:33:15,920 Speaker 7: of Australia's most baffling cases, the disappearance of three year 493 00:33:15,920 --> 00:33:18,400 Speaker 7: old William Tyrell. Almost a decade ago. 494 00:33:18,560 --> 00:33:21,520 Speaker 3: The final part of an inquest into the disappearance of 495 00:33:21,600 --> 00:33:24,480 Speaker 3: New South Wales toddler William Tyrell has begun. 496 00:33:24,600 --> 00:33:27,400 Speaker 7: Secret recordings from inside the home of William Tyrell's faster 497 00:33:27,520 --> 00:33:29,640 Speaker 7: parents have been played in court today. 498 00:33:29,800 --> 00:33:32,360 Speaker 1: You probably haven't heard of Alana Smith. 499 00:33:32,480 --> 00:33:35,080 Speaker 7: Then there's the information that for the first time tonight 500 00:33:35,240 --> 00:33:36,800 Speaker 7: is being made public by police. 501 00:33:36,960 --> 00:33:40,040 Speaker 3: Well the worst case of malicious prosecution in the state. 502 00:33:40,160 --> 00:33:43,920 Speaker 7: Detectives now believe there's enough evidence to charge the toddler's 503 00:33:44,120 --> 00:33:44,720 Speaker 7: foster mother. 504 00:33:44,880 --> 00:33:48,680 Speaker 3: Detectives are recommending the woman be charged with interfering with 505 00:33:48,760 --> 00:33:51,200 Speaker 3: a corpse and perverting the course of justice. 506 00:33:51,240 --> 00:33:56,040 Speaker 1: Foster mother has always denied involvement in the little boy's disappearance. 507 00:33:56,240 --> 00:33:59,240 Speaker 2: So what's your impression of the foster pearance of William Tyrel. 508 00:33:59,320 --> 00:34:01,840 Speaker 3: It's the other is guilty of this. She is the 509 00:34:01,880 --> 00:34:04,200 Speaker 3: greatest actor in Australian criminal history. 510 00:34:04,240 --> 00:34:06,480 Speaker 5: So if anyone out there is thinking I might have 511 00:34:06,520 --> 00:34:08,680 Speaker 5: gotten away with this, what's your message? 512 00:34:09,040 --> 00:34:12,200 Speaker 2: They haven't. We will continue with this investigation as long 513 00:34:12,239 --> 00:34:13,160 Speaker 2: as it takes okay. 514 00:34:13,200 --> 00:34:16,840 Speaker 3: So basically, you're saying we have no idea who killed 515 00:34:16,880 --> 00:34:21,640 Speaker 3: William and we're no closer to finding that out. 516 00:34:34,719 --> 00:34:38,720 Speaker 2: The thing is, almost everyone talking about this case doesn't 517 00:34:39,000 --> 00:34:42,759 Speaker 2: know much, if anything, about it. Ben Atwood is one 518 00:34:42,760 --> 00:34:47,000 Speaker 2: of the few who actually knew William. Ben looked at 519 00:34:47,000 --> 00:34:51,120 Speaker 2: the birth and the foster families after William disappeared. I've 520 00:34:51,160 --> 00:34:54,520 Speaker 2: been through pages of Ben's documents of records he drew 521 00:34:54,600 --> 00:34:57,960 Speaker 2: up when he was William's caseworker. He was looking for faults, 522 00:34:58,000 --> 00:35:02,799 Speaker 2: for patterns, any sign that will might not be safe. 523 00:35:03,160 --> 00:35:06,800 Speaker 6: I want to be realistic about this as much as possible. 524 00:35:07,560 --> 00:35:12,239 Speaker 6: There's so much coverage where the differences between the birth 525 00:35:12,280 --> 00:35:16,200 Speaker 6: family and the foster family have really been magnified and polarized. 526 00:35:17,200 --> 00:35:21,200 Speaker 2: But the experience of being interviewed by police made Ben 527 00:35:21,480 --> 00:35:24,880 Speaker 2: question if he was wrong to trust William's foster. 528 00:35:24,680 --> 00:35:30,480 Speaker 6: Family, and I'd be lying if I said that. I 529 00:35:30,520 --> 00:35:33,719 Speaker 6: never looked back on that and thought, did I miss anything, 530 00:35:34,640 --> 00:35:35,720 Speaker 6: Did I make a mistake? 531 00:35:37,760 --> 00:35:38,240 Speaker 2: Was I. 532 00:35:40,000 --> 00:35:45,120 Speaker 6: Inattentive to something that actually was significant? And I just 533 00:35:45,200 --> 00:35:46,240 Speaker 6: can't think of anything. 534 00:35:54,840 --> 00:35:59,000 Speaker 2: My eldest daughter is the same age as William Terroon, 535 00:36:03,400 --> 00:36:06,879 Speaker 2: is the same age William would be or would have been. 536 00:36:07,440 --> 00:36:11,360 Speaker 2: And I can remember the first time I went to Kendall, 537 00:36:11,680 --> 00:36:15,120 Speaker 2: standing outside the house where William went missing, and at 538 00:36:15,120 --> 00:36:18,480 Speaker 2: the time, the police were looking at the theory that 539 00:36:18,560 --> 00:36:22,200 Speaker 2: maybe he ran down the grass slope towards the road 540 00:36:23,120 --> 00:36:26,279 Speaker 2: where maybe there was someone in a waiting car who 541 00:36:26,320 --> 00:36:29,440 Speaker 2: picked him up and drove him away, And I can remember, 542 00:36:30,560 --> 00:36:35,440 Speaker 2: I can remember being there, and I knew how a 543 00:36:35,480 --> 00:36:39,279 Speaker 2: three year old moved. I knew how my daughter could 544 00:36:39,320 --> 00:36:42,400 Speaker 2: have run down that slope and been picked up and 545 00:36:42,480 --> 00:36:50,840 Speaker 2: been completely helpless. And I can remember shivering and it 546 00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:53,160 Speaker 2: bothering me in a way that no other story I'd 547 00:36:53,160 --> 00:36:59,680 Speaker 2: ever worked on ever did. And it's ten years now. 548 00:37:00,160 --> 00:37:04,520 Speaker 2: My youngest daughter is the same age William was at 549 00:37:04,520 --> 00:37:11,000 Speaker 2: the time he disappeared. And I do know that if 550 00:37:11,040 --> 00:37:14,280 Speaker 2: it was one of my daughters who'd gone missing, I'd 551 00:37:14,280 --> 00:37:19,080 Speaker 2: have wanted there to be a transparent investigation. I would 552 00:37:19,120 --> 00:37:23,240 Speaker 2: want the media to report the truth about what had happened. 553 00:37:23,719 --> 00:37:28,240 Speaker 2: I would want people shouting my daughter's name in every 554 00:37:28,280 --> 00:37:33,239 Speaker 2: newspaper and every TV show and every podcast. And that 555 00:37:33,719 --> 00:37:36,560 Speaker 2: is what I would have wanted to have happened. 556 00:37:48,600 --> 00:37:56,799 Speaker 6: Sorry, can I start again, Yeah, I do take I 557 00:37:56,840 --> 00:38:03,879 Speaker 6: took my responsibility for William's care seriously. Part of it 558 00:38:03,960 --> 00:38:10,839 Speaker 6: was also not adding to the furnace of speculation that 559 00:38:10,920 --> 00:38:13,880 Speaker 6: this was generating. I did not want to become entangled 560 00:38:13,920 --> 00:38:17,120 Speaker 6: in that because I wanted the investigation to be focused 561 00:38:17,160 --> 00:38:21,440 Speaker 6: on what was important, which was finding William. 562 00:38:21,760 --> 00:38:24,640 Speaker 2: Like Michelle White, this is the first time Ben has 563 00:38:24,640 --> 00:38:28,280 Speaker 2: spoken to a journalist. We met first in a cafe 564 00:38:28,320 --> 00:38:32,080 Speaker 2: in Western Sydney and Ben was nervous, he was uncertain. 565 00:38:33,400 --> 00:38:36,120 Speaker 2: And then we met again in my office and it 566 00:38:36,160 --> 00:38:41,120 Speaker 2: was like Ben was determined, like he was reconciled to 567 00:38:41,239 --> 00:38:41,680 Speaker 2: face this. 568 00:38:42,800 --> 00:38:45,240 Speaker 6: But in the last few years, I feel that William 569 00:38:45,239 --> 00:38:52,480 Speaker 6: has almost disappeared from the public discourse about this case. 570 00:38:54,800 --> 00:39:00,400 Speaker 6: I feel that he's really faded into the back ground 571 00:39:00,440 --> 00:39:05,000 Speaker 6: and other things have taken his place. And I'm not 572 00:39:05,160 --> 00:39:10,920 Speaker 6: special or anything like that, but I knew him. I 573 00:39:10,960 --> 00:39:18,919 Speaker 6: knew him well, and I think it's important that I wish, 574 00:39:19,239 --> 00:39:21,799 Speaker 6: I wish he was alive and here and that none 575 00:39:21,800 --> 00:39:24,920 Speaker 6: of this was happening, But we can't have that now, 576 00:39:25,480 --> 00:39:30,160 Speaker 6: And so I think in lieu of that, I wish 577 00:39:30,280 --> 00:39:35,560 Speaker 6: that he was remembered and honored for who he was. 578 00:39:35,600 --> 00:39:38,680 Speaker 6: And I think I can, I can at least comment 579 00:39:38,760 --> 00:39:45,560 Speaker 6: on what I knew. And we don't know what happened 580 00:39:45,560 --> 00:39:47,560 Speaker 6: to him. We don't know if he's alive or not. 581 00:39:47,640 --> 00:39:51,640 Speaker 6: We don't know if he was abducted, if so, who 582 00:39:51,719 --> 00:39:55,520 Speaker 6: took him. We don't know anything. But what I feel 583 00:39:55,760 --> 00:39:59,879 Speaker 6: looking at the coverage is that gradually William has really 584 00:40:00,040 --> 00:40:03,560 Speaker 6: become a bit of a footnote and has been replaced 585 00:40:03,600 --> 00:40:13,920 Speaker 6: by conjecture. And you know, I'm not going to comment 586 00:40:14,040 --> 00:40:20,719 Speaker 6: on police hypotheses, particularly matters that are in court. That's 587 00:40:21,280 --> 00:40:25,719 Speaker 6: not my field, that's not my expertise. But I do 588 00:40:25,800 --> 00:40:31,000 Speaker 6: have this sense that William has become an absence. He's 589 00:40:31,000 --> 00:40:33,040 Speaker 6: been an absence since he was missing, but he's become 590 00:40:33,080 --> 00:40:36,640 Speaker 6: an absence in his own investigation. In a sense, looking 591 00:40:36,640 --> 00:40:39,560 Speaker 6: back at it now, are you disappointed? 592 00:40:40,800 --> 00:40:41,960 Speaker 2: I feel confused. 593 00:40:42,880 --> 00:40:49,600 Speaker 6: I feel confused because I don't understand, like, what's the 594 00:40:49,640 --> 00:40:54,680 Speaker 6: calculus that's driving the directions the investigation is taking. You know, 595 00:40:54,719 --> 00:41:00,319 Speaker 6: as William's caseworker, my job was to be an tick 596 00:41:00,400 --> 00:41:05,640 Speaker 6: it for him and for his care and so in 597 00:41:05,760 --> 00:41:11,719 Speaker 6: talking about the what we've talked about, it's a kind 598 00:41:11,760 --> 00:41:18,520 Speaker 6: of grief to me that we are still We don't 599 00:41:18,560 --> 00:41:24,239 Speaker 6: feel any closer, and I feel that we may never 600 00:41:24,320 --> 00:41:28,400 Speaker 6: really know, we may never really have an answer, we 601 00:41:28,440 --> 00:41:35,720 Speaker 6: may never have a point where we can really grieve 602 00:41:36,440 --> 00:41:40,560 Speaker 6: for William because we know what happened. I have to 603 00:41:40,560 --> 00:41:46,759 Speaker 6: be careful how I say this, based on everything that 604 00:41:47,040 --> 00:41:49,520 Speaker 6: you know. I know from when I was in William's 605 00:41:49,560 --> 00:41:53,040 Speaker 6: life and in the lives of his families. I don't 606 00:41:53,040 --> 00:41:55,840 Speaker 6: feel that we're any closer now to finding out what happened. 607 00:41:55,920 --> 00:42:02,840 Speaker 6: I don't think that we've made significant steps in that direction. 608 00:42:04,120 --> 00:42:15,680 Speaker 2: Yeah, talking to Michelle and Ben, I've learned their professionals 609 00:42:16,160 --> 00:42:21,080 Speaker 2: with a professional responsibility to ask questions about what happened 610 00:42:21,120 --> 00:42:24,120 Speaker 2: to William, and that is what they've done over the 611 00:42:24,160 --> 00:42:29,840 Speaker 2: past ten years, including asking questions of themselves. They don't 612 00:42:29,920 --> 00:42:34,040 Speaker 2: care who's right or wrong. Their responsibility is not to 613 00:42:34,080 --> 00:42:39,040 Speaker 2: the police or William's foster parents, but to William and 614 00:42:39,080 --> 00:42:43,279 Speaker 2: they've gone back searching their memories because not asking those 615 00:42:43,400 --> 00:42:48,680 Speaker 2: questions would be to fail William. That's what we're going 616 00:42:48,719 --> 00:42:51,799 Speaker 2: to do over the rest of this series, going back 617 00:42:51,800 --> 00:42:56,160 Speaker 2: to the beginning, asking questions, revealing what was done right 618 00:42:56,400 --> 00:42:59,160 Speaker 2: in the search for William and what was done wrong 619 00:43:00,080 --> 00:43:03,920 Speaker 2: and who got hurt as a result of those decisions. 620 00:43:04,560 --> 00:43:06,880 Speaker 2: People get hurt in these investigations. 621 00:43:07,239 --> 00:43:09,680 Speaker 1: We all look back in hindsight on things that you 622 00:43:09,719 --> 00:43:11,759 Speaker 1: know you could do better, or decisions that you make 623 00:43:11,840 --> 00:43:13,320 Speaker 1: that you could have done differently. 624 00:43:14,680 --> 00:43:16,880 Speaker 2: Everyone does that, or you know, if you've got a conscience, 625 00:43:16,880 --> 00:43:21,600 Speaker 2: you do that. Anyway, we're going to reinvestigate the investigation 626 00:43:22,400 --> 00:43:26,520 Speaker 2: on Bill spreading. Yes, look, the reality of this is 627 00:43:26,520 --> 00:43:28,760 Speaker 2: I don't think you're going to enjoy this conversation. Yeah, 628 00:43:28,800 --> 00:43:31,640 Speaker 2: tell me about it. We're going to look back on 629 00:43:31,719 --> 00:43:32,920 Speaker 2: what really happened. 630 00:43:33,400 --> 00:43:36,520 Speaker 1: It's the never ending nightmare. We just relive it. We 631 00:43:36,640 --> 00:43:37,600 Speaker 1: just don't have our boy. 632 00:43:38,760 --> 00:43:51,280 Speaker 4: Don't hurt him. 633 00:43:51,320 --> 00:43:53,440 Speaker 1: So if I look you in the eye now and 634 00:43:53,480 --> 00:43:57,080 Speaker 1: say I know you're lying, and I'm not even going 635 00:43:57,120 --> 00:43:59,400 Speaker 1: to tell you why or how I know you're lying, 636 00:43:59,520 --> 00:44:01,440 Speaker 1: what would just well. 637 00:44:01,440 --> 00:44:08,719 Speaker 2: I'd say you're must him the truth. William project to One. 638 00:44:08,760 --> 00:44:11,960 Speaker 2: Thing I do know for certain is that things you 639 00:44:12,120 --> 00:44:16,799 Speaker 2: didn't know will become known. Take one example, that time 640 00:44:16,880 --> 00:44:19,920 Speaker 2: that William Tirele disappeared from Kendall on the twelfth of 641 00:44:19,960 --> 00:44:24,400 Speaker 2: September twenty fourteen. That wasn't even the first time that 642 00:44:24,520 --> 00:44:25,280 Speaker 2: he went missing. 643 00:44:26,440 --> 00:44:27,920 Speaker 1: HI heap them for three months. 644 00:44:28,320 --> 00:44:29,319 Speaker 2: I arranged the. 645 00:44:29,280 --> 00:44:33,200 Speaker 1: Whole you're the mastermind. Yeah, that's right. 646 00:44:33,360 --> 00:44:35,399 Speaker 2: I should have just toutten myself in the nile. 647 00:44:35,480 --> 00:44:36,759 Speaker 1: We've been able to take him off. 648 00:44:38,239 --> 00:44:47,399 Speaker 2: That's all I should have done. That's next time on Witness. 649 00:44:48,960 --> 00:44:51,280 Speaker 2: A lot of people have been involved in making this series. 650 00:44:51,560 --> 00:44:55,040 Speaker 2: Among them, the executive producer is Nina Young. The sound 651 00:44:55,080 --> 00:44:59,240 Speaker 2: design was by Tiffany Dimack. The producers have been Emily Pigeon, 652 00:44:59,600 --> 00:45:05,720 Speaker 2: Nicola Adams, Jazzbar and Phoebe Zakowski Wallace. Research by Aidan Patrick, 653 00:45:05,920 --> 00:45:10,200 Speaker 2: music by Rory O'Connor. Our lawyer is Stephen Coons, and 654 00:45:10,280 --> 00:45:13,800 Speaker 2: the editor at news dot com dot au is Kerry Warren. 655 00:45:14,800 --> 00:45:15,680 Speaker 2: I'm Dan Box