'William! William where are you?' William Tyrrell's foster father walks detectives through his desperate hunt for the three-year-old boy in the minutes after he disappeared
- Three-year-old was playing at his grandmother's home when he went missing
- Inquest into William's disappearance and suspected death began on Monday
- The Coroner's court heard the emergency call made by William's foster mother
- Video was played as court heard police first had to search for William in 2012
The coronial inquest investigating the disappearance of William Tyrrell has released video of the boy's distraught foster father walking police investigators around the property where he vanished.
The foster father, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had just returned home from a meeting via Skype on September 12, 2014, when his wife asked 'words to effect of "is William with me?"'
The dad 'was taken aback - "why would he be with me?"', counsel assisting the inquest, Robert Craddock SC said in his opening address on Monday.
The three-year-old (pictured) was playing in the front yard of his foster grandmother's home in Kendall south of Port Macquarie on the New South Wales mid-north coast when he went missing
In the undated video, the foster father took police deep into the sloping backyard of the property and described his desperate search for his son
He told the officer William would be a 'bit scared and anxious because he doesn't know where he is'
In the undated video, the foster father took police deep into the sloping backyard of the property and described his desperate search for his son.
Standing in one corner of the property, he said William was 'adventurous' but 'more of a walker than a runner'.
'He's not wanderer, he doesn't do it,' William's foster father said.
He told the officer William would be a 'bit scared and anxious because he doesn't know where he is'.
An officer asked if William would do an 'uncontrollable gravity run' down the hill, as children do, and the foster father said he would, 'absolutely'.
'He does tend to know some of his limitations. He gets asthma, he'd do that, and then start coughing,' he said.
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William's foster father said the child may have walked through one end of a wire fence at the boundary of the property.
William's foster father struggled to remember who he came across as he frantically searched neighbouring properties for the boy.
'William! William, where are you?' the boy's foster father said he screamed as he searched.
In the video clip, William's foster father is seen walking police up another end of the property, where he said it would be 'too hard' for him to go under the fence.
The father described how he jumped the fence while searching for William and found one of his neighbours.
'Have you seen a little boy, William?' he asked.
'No, I haven't seen a little boy,' the neighbour said.
A woman at the property then offered to come out and help search.
William Tyrrell (pictured) was dressed as Spiderman, climbing trees and 'pretending to be a daddy tiger' on the morning of his disappearance in 2014
Standing in one corner of the property, William's foster father said the boy was 'adventurous' but 'more of a walker than a runner
'I was thinking so many things at once,' the father explained to the officer. 'I need to cover as much ground as I can in the shortest possible time.'
The officer asked William's foster father if knowing that he was not being watched by 'mummy and daddy' would stop him from walking away from the property.
'Na, he'd give it a shot,' William's foster father said.
The video was played as it was revealed that police had first been forced to search for William two years before he disappeared.
In 2012, Family and Community Services came to collect William in February after a court ruled he would have to be placed into the care of the Minister for Family and Community Services.
He wasn't at home and police later issued a warrant for the arrest of William's biological mother.
He was found a month later at the home of a relative and taken into foster care, the court heard.
The coroner was told earlier on Monday that the it was likely to find William's disappearance 'was the direct result of human intervention'.
'If the evidence establishes that William was abducted, that conclusion is chilling because it means a person snatched a three-year-old from the safety of a quiet village backyard,' counsel assisting the coroner, Gerard Craddock SC, said in his opening address on Monday.
'That person, with whatever his or her proclivities and interests, remains in our community.'
In a triple-zero call made on September 12 and also played to the inquest, William's foster mother is heard telling the operator: 'We heard him roaring around the garden and then I thought, oh I haven't heard him, I better go check on him, and couldn't find him'.
The three-year-old boy was wearing a red Spider-Man suit and had been roaring like a 'daddy tiger' that morning.
The woman had been searching the neighbouring properties and green bushland for any sign of red, and estimated William had disappeared about 10.30am.
She also told the operator she hadn't seen anyone suspicious in the area.
Mr Craddock said William's foster grandmother - whose house the family were visiting - had noticed 'it had become quiet, too quiet'.
'There had been one load roar and then nothing,' Mr Craddock said.
The first week of hearings will explore William's foster and biological families, when he disappeared and early stages of the investigation including the action taken shortly after he went missing.
The father described how he jumped the fence while searching for William and found one of his neighbours
'I expect the evidence may show that it was likely that he was taken,' Mr Craddock said.
'That is, that William's disappearance was the direct result of human intervention.'
He said there is 'no doubt' both of William's biological parents were in Sydney on the day the young boy disappeared.
'Investigators haven't positively drawn the conclusion that no relative or associate was involved in William's disappearance,' he said.
Further hearings will begin in August when persons of interest will be called to give evidence.
The inquest continues before Deputy State Coroner Harriet Grahame.
Timeline of William Tyrrell's disappearance
Still missing: William Tyrrell vanished from his foster grandmother's home three-and-a-half years ago
By Australian Associated Press
2014
September 12 - Dressed in a Spiderman outfit, three-year-old William Tyrrell goes missing from the garden while visiting members of his foster family in Kendall, about 40 kilometres south of Port Macquarie.
September 21 - Police stop searching for the missing boy after scouring surrounding bushland and neighbouring houses.
2015
January 20 - Police search the home and business of a washing machine repairman, who had been due to carry out repairs at the Kendall house at the time the three-year-old went missing.
Detectives take items for testing including a mattress, computer and vehicles. They drain his septic tank.
January 23 - The washing machine repairman publicly denies any involvement in William's disappearance and says he and his wife are on the verge of a breakdown due to the public attention.
February 19 - Homicide detectives take over the case and say it's likely William was abducted.
March 2 - Police fruitlessly search an area of bushland near Bonny Hills for three days after a tip-off.
April 17 - William's foster parents speak publicly for the first time in an emotional video released through police which does not identify them.
April 17 - Police say the boy may have been a victim of a pedophile ring.
September 6 - The Nine Network's 60 Minutes airs a special report into the case, revealing two suspicious cars were parked on the street the morning William went missing.
September 12 - 'Where's William' week is launched one year after he disappeared.
2016
September 12 - A $1 million reward is offered for information leading to William's return.
2017
August 24 - William's foster child status is revealed after a court ruling.
2018
January 22 - Daily Mail Australia reveals Karlie Tyrrell charged for spitting at a cop
January 29 - Karlie Tyrrell enters guilty plea for spitting incident
June 12 - NSW Police announce the start of a four-week forensic search of bushland in Kendall conducted by Strike Force Rosann.
June 14 - William's grandmother scolds police who have failed to find the young boy after four years, and claims their latest search is 'just for show'.
June 26 - The forensic search continues on what would have been William's seventh birthday.
June 27 - Strike Force Rosann announces it will move the search to an 800sqm block of bushland just 4km from where William was last seen alive.
June 5 - The latest search ends with Detective Chief Inspector Gary Jubelin saying the case could soon go to a coroner.
August - Investigation leader Detective Chief Inspector Gary Jubelin and a sergeant get into a fight in a disagreement during a briefing
September 13 - Police reveal they found a burned out car wreck belonging to a former person of interest
December 19 - Coroners say William could still be alive and the inquest will determine if he died or not
2019
February - DCI Jubelin is removed from the investigation amid a misconduct probe
March 25 - The inquest into William Tyrrell's disappearance begins
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