Professional tracker who helped find three-year-old AJ in the bush says the first search for William Tyrrell was halted TOO SOON - and reveals why he believes cops must widen the net as they hunt for missing boy again
- Bush tracker says initial William Tyrrell searches were called off too early
- The three-year-old vanished on the Mid North Coast of NSW back in 2014
- Jake Cassar believes current search operation in Kendall should be expanded
- William's foster parents were charged with assaulting a child on Wednesday
A professional bush tracker who was involved in the initial hunt for missing three-year-old William Tyrrell says the first search operations were called off 'too soon'.
Jake Cassar headed to Kendall on the Mid North Coast in 2014 when the little boy in the Spider-Man suit vanished from the garden of his foster grandmother's home in 2014.
But when the massive ground search was eventually called off he remained in the small community for several more days, continuing to look for William on his own.
A professional bush tracker who was involved in the initial hunt for missing three-year-old William Tyrrell (pictured) says the first search operations were called off 'too soon'
Pictured: Who's who in William Tyrrell's complicated family tree - from his wealthy north shore foster parents to a 'homeless' biological dad and single mum raising his two younger brothers
'I do think we need to do our absolute best to ensure these cases are not called off too soon. Anything is possible, that's the bottom line,' the expert told news.com.au.
Hundreds of police on Wednesday descended on bushland in Kendall as a team of detectives scoured the home where William was last seen, as well as a site about 700m away.
A cadaver dog also roamed nearby searching for bones with investigators following up on new information received earlier this week.
Mr Cassar says it's extremely important to go over territory that may have already been searched as key evidence could easily have been missed.
But he's also calling for investigators to expand the operation to the 'fringes of town'.
Hundreds of police on Wednesday descended on bushland in Kendall as a team of detectives scoured the home where William was last seen, as well as a site about 700m away (pictured)
Mr Cassar says it's extremely important to go over territory that may have already been searched as key evidence could easily have been missed
'You would think that if a predator was going to take them, they're not going to go straight down a main road with a child in the car. They might drive kilometres away and drive down a side street somewhere,' Mr Cassar said.
'Those obscure places would be where I would be searching, and the obvious spots on the fringes of town, where they might have driven out, parked their car and potentially disposed of the body.'
That's precisely what he did back in 2014 by himself in the days after the search was called off.
He says police with greater man power need to 'keep an open mind' and head back to those obscure inroads to 'search for bones'.
Mr Cassar also added the possibility still remains that William wasn't abducted and simply became lost in the bush.
The tracker said he learnt from the recent Anthony 'AJ' Elfalak case that it's very easy to miss a small child in the bush and that even toddlers could have travelled 'eight, nine, or even 10km away' on foot.
William Tyrrell (pictured) went missing from his foster grandmother's home seven years ago
William's foster parents were charged over the alleged assault of a child earlier on Wednesday in a bombshell development.
The missing boy's 56-year-old foster mum and 54-year-old foster dad are accused of assaulting a child at their home on Sydney's upper north shore.
In a statement, the NSW Police Force confirmed the parents have been charged with one count of common assault each.
The charges were laid after the NSW Homicide Squad and Strike Force Rosann - the taskforce investigating the three-year-old's disappearance - received information last week.
The parents will face Hornsby Local Court next Tuesday, where police will also apply for apprehended violence orders.
Daily Mail Australia are not suggesting they are in anyway involved in Williams disappearance.
William Tyrrell's foster parents have been charged over the alleged assault of a child. The missing boy's 56-year-old foster mum and 54-year-old foster dad are accused of assaulting a child at their home on Sydney's upper north shore
William Tyrrell's foster mother - the main person of interest in the three-year-old's disappearance - appeared in public just hours before she was charged with common assault
Earlier on Wednesday, Daily Mail Australia revealed the search at Batar Creek Road has been linked to the recent seizure of William's foster grandmother's car.
It is understood the car travelled near the site on the day of William's disappearance with police investigating if an object was thrown out the window.
Daily Mail Australia understands police believe William's foster mother drove the vehicle the morning William disappeared.
William's foster mother has become a person of interest in the case. However, the case has had hundreds of persons of interest.
Being a person of interest does not necessarily suggest William's mother is a suspect and she has vehemently denied any involvement in his disappearance.
A police officer takes a photo of the scene where a mysterious item was found on Wednesday. NSW Police swiftly intervened to say the item is unrelated and not of relevance to the case
An officer pictured carrying a clipboard at Wednesday's dig site. NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller called into the scene to see what was happening after seeing a live Sky News Australia report on the 'find'
A car seized by police looking for the remains of William Tyrrell was allegedly driven by his foster mother on the morning he vanished seven years ago. Police believe an object might have been thrown from the vehicle as it was driven along Batar Road at Kendall, which is in the middle of the massive police search site for William's body
Earlier on Wednesday, a 'body finder' who helped discover the remains of murdered schoolboy Daniel Morcombe claimed the dig to find William's remains is a 'more complex' job.
Speaking exclusively with Daily Mail Australia before going to a high-powered meeting with detectives at the Tyrrell search command post, water science expert Professor Jon Olley toured one of the possible burial sites now cordoned off by police tape on Wednesday morning.
Daily Mail Australia exclusively photographed both the site inspection and the professor's briefing with police.
Along with two detectives and special task force police officers, the grim-faced professor joined forensic grave archaeologist, Dr Tony Lowe, to inspect an area which has been flattened and cleared by Rural Fire Service officers.
Professor Jon Olley, a human remains expert, has been brought to help in the search for William. Professor Olley is pictured with police at Kendall
William Tyrrell (pictured on the day of his disappearance) was last seen playing at the home of his foster grandmother on the NSW mid north coast in 2014
Police are pictured digging in the front garden of the house where William Tyrrell disappeared
The site, which has a mound of earth dug up by an excavator, is on a dirt road connected via a fire trail up through dense bush to the house where William vanished in 2014.
Professor Olley said the task of finding William's remains was more difficult because it was over 'a bigger area'.
In 2011, the Griffith University emeritus hydrology professor spent two months with a team of hydrologists and archaeologists searching on a steep swampy site near the Glasshouse Mountains on Queensland's Sunshine Coast.
They found two shoes and three bones belonging to Daniel Morcombe, 13 years old at the time of his murder, whose body had been discarded by killer Brett Peter Cowan at the site in December 2003.
The seized car (pictured being towed away) is currently undergoing forensic examination
Timeline of William Tyrrell's disappearance
Still missing: William Tyrrell vanished from his foster grandmother's home five years ago
2014
September 12 - Dressed in a Spider-Man outfit, three-year-old William Tyrrell goes missing from the garden while visiting members of his foster family on the NSW north coast.
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 washing machine repairman Bill Spedding, who had been due to carry out repairs at the 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 paedophile ring.
September 6 - The Nine Network's 60 Minutes reveal 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 $1million reward is offered for information leading to William's return.
2017
August 24 - William's foster child status is revealed after a landmark court ruling.
2018
June 12 - NSW Police announce the start of a four-week forensic search of bushland 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 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, with William's biological and foster parents appearing over the course of a week.
The inquest's first batch of hearings focused on William's family situation and the events leading up to his disappearance.
Both his foster and biological parents were quizzed, as were neighbours who helped in the search.
It was disclosed that William's biological parents absconded with him for six weeks in 2012, following a children's court order.
William's biological father slammed authorities for letting them down.
'Authorities f***ed up ... The minister had a duty of care to keep William safe until he was 18. That was not the case at all.'
May: DCI Jubelin quits the Police Force.
June: Four charges of breaching the Surveillance Devices Act are laid against DCI Jubelin. He denies any wrongdoing whatsover
August: The second tranche of inquest hearings began on Wednesday August 7
Inquest hears Bill Spedding, a NSW mid-north coast repairman and one-time person of interest in the disappearance of William Tyrrell, met his wife for coffee about 9.30am in Laurieton, a 15-minute drive from Kendall, on the day William went missing.
They then attended a school assembly across the road to see a child in their care receive an award.
The inquest heard how a man who claims he saw William Tyrrell unrestrained in the back of a speeding car on the day the child went missing was waiting for police to interview him to tell them what he saw.
He told the inquest he contacted police but did not hear back about an interview.
It took it took almost 1000 days before he was able to reveal what he saw to police.
The coroner orders an urgent probe into the final image that was taken on the day William vanished as metadata suggests the picture may have been taken 118 minutes earlier than originally thought.
The image has a 'created time' of 7.39am and a 'corrected time' of 9.37am, a new document from the 2000-page evidence brief.
The coronial inquest has been delayed for another eight months with the next round of hearings happening in March 2020.
November 11: The deputy state coroner releases footage of William Tyrrell and family at Heatherbrae McDonalds, on September 11, 2014
Feb - March 2020: Gary Jubelin defends four charges of illegally recording person of interest Paul Savage in court hearing
February 21: Daily Mail Australia reveals Frank Abbott was arrested in custody for the purposes of a police interview about William's disappearance
March 2020: The coronial inquest into William's disappearance resumes but stops with two days to go due to the coronavirus outbreak
April 6, 2020: Magistrate Ross Hudson delivers his verdict in Gary Jubelin case
April 8, 2020: Jubelin is convicted of all four charges and fined $10,000. Ex-cop says he will appeal
June 22, 2020: Police and SES launch new search for William Tyrrell near Herons Creek, where Abbott once lived
June 26, 2021: Police acknowledge William Tyrrell's 10th birthday
November 15, 2021: Detectives return to Kendall after receiving new information and admit they are searching for a body. His foster parents are reported to be persons of interest in the case
