A new image created by a high-tech US crime lab could help solve one of Australia’s most haunting mysteries, 10 years after William Tyrrell vanished without a trace.
There have been no confirmed sightings of the three-year-old since he disappeared from his foster grandmother’s home in Kendall on the New South Wales mid-north coast on September 12, 2014.
The world’s leading forensic imaging experts at the US forensic centre Parabon Nano Labs have created and published a computer-generated image of what William would look like today at age 13.
Newcastle University Associate Professor of Criminology Dr Xanthé Mallett told 10 News the ageing progression in the image had been expertly done.
“These forensic medical artists can actually give us a picture, give us a prediction of what someone might have looked like using images of that person at different ages,” he said.
‘He (William) would be entering puberty at this stage, so he would be having a lot of changes, especially on the lower half of his face, because he would be taking on a more adult appearance as his permanent teeth come in.’
It is hoped the image may prompt someone with information about what happened to William to come forward and help solve one of the country’s most persistent mysteries.
“There’s always the possibility that he’s alive, although that seems unlikely,” Associate Professor Mallett said.
This image created by US-based Parabon Nano Labs shows what William Tyrrell might have looked like at age 13, 10 years after he disappeared without a trace.
Thursday marked 10 years since William Tyrrell disappeared from his adoptive grandmother’s home on the mid-north coast of New South Wales.
An image like this might encourage someone who knows what happened to unravel the mystery.
On the 10th anniversary of the boy’s appearance on Thursday, New South Wales police issued a brief statement that did not promise any further attempts to find William, who is believed to have died.
“Strikeforce detectives continue to prepare information for the forensic investigation,” the statement said.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns stressed that there is a $1 million reward for anyone who can provide information leading to finding William.
Despite police being called within an hour of William’s disappearance and a decade-long investigation involving hundreds of people of interest and dozens of searches, no trace has been found of the boy last seen wearing a Spider-Man suit.
In March 2019, a forensic investigation looked into the multi-million dollar search.
However, the investigation has been suspended until the end of the year and no conclusions have been issued.
Former detective Gary Jubelin, who led the hunt for William for four years, remains haunted by the case.
Mr Jubelin was removed from the case after being found guilty of illegally recording a suspect in 2020.
He believes that a broader review of how the investigation was conducted is necessary.
A computer-generated image of what William Tyrrell would have looked like at age five, two years after his disappearance.
Despite millions and thousands of dollars spent on the police investigation, William has not been seen since he disappeared from his adoptive grandmother’s home in Kendall on the central-north coast of New South Wales on September 12, 2014.
“There should be simultaneously a stream of investigation that should be established very early on to investigate the possibility of human intervention,” he told Channel 10.
‘All this drama, all this controversy with the investigation should be put aside and everyone should work in the same direction to find out what happened to William.’
Associate Professor Mallett said there were some lessons learned from how police conducted the case, which were applied to successfully rescue Cleo Smith, a four-year-old girl abducted in Western Australia in 2019.
“We learned to close the scene very quickly,” he said.
“We learned when to offer a reward and I think the Western Australian Police made sure the same mistakes were not made.”
During a recent directions hearing at the New South Wales Coroner’s Court, it was confirmed that the final set of hearings for the inquest into Williams’ disappearance and the police investigation will take place in the weeks of November 4 and December 16.