Police have raided two homes on the NSW mid-north coast in the search for missing toddler William Tyrell.
THE man whose property is being searched in the hunt for William Tyrell had been due to fix the boy's grandmother's washing machine on the day the child went missing from her home, police sources have said.
Local tradesman William Harrie Spedding, 63, could not be contacted for comment yesterday as the yard of his rented home, including a fire pit, was dug up and the septic tank drained.
William Tyrell / Picture: Supplied Source: Facebook
There is no suggestion Mr Spedding, known as Bill, will be charged and Superintendent Paul Fehon played down any suggestion the developments were a "major breakthrough", saying it was just one of many lines of inquiry.
"I don't describe it as a major breakthrough. It is a line of inquiry we're taking as part of the normal investigation phase for an investigation of this nature," Supt Fehon said.
Forensic police search the backyard at Bonny Hills / Picture by PeterLorimer Source: News Corp Australia
Mr Spedding and his wife were questioned but released without charge. Mr Spedding also gave police a DNA sample.
Yesterday's search included an area beneath the house in semirural Wandoo Pl at Bonny Hills, on the mid-north coast, about 30 minutes drive from Kendall, where William disappeared on September 12.
William Spedding, whose house in Bonny Hills was searched yesterday by police / Picture: Nathan Edwards Source: News Corp Australia
It followed a police raid on a first-floor unit in Laurieton from where Mr Spedding used to run a pawn broking business. A mattress, computers and documents were seized. Three cars taken from the Bonny Hills property on Tuesday are also being examined.
William Tyrell / Picture: Supplied Source: News Corp Australia
William Tyrell / Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied
Bikes and a trampoline belonging to Mr Spedding's grandchildren were in the Bonny Hills yard.
It has emerged that Mr Spedding visited William's grandmother's home in the days before he disappeared to quote a washing machine repair before ordering parts for the job. William, 3, and his sister, 4, arrived at their grandmother's home on the afternoon of Thursday, September 11.
William Spedding arrives at a friend's house / Picture: Nathan Edwards Source: News Corp Australia
They were playing hide and seek in the garden on the Friday morning when William disappeared about 10.30am.
A friend of Mr Spedding said that Mr Spedding had a missed call from William's grandmother on Friday morning but could not get through when he tried to call back.
Police at William Spedding's property / Picture: Nathan Edwards Source: News Corp Australia
He said that Mr Spedding then met his wife Margaret for a coffee before they went to a presentation at the primary school of one of their grandchildren. He said that Mr Spedding went to do a job at nearby Dunbogan that afternoon and called William's grandmother's home.
Picture: Facebook. Source: Facebook
Picture: Facebook. Source: Facebook
He said Mr Spedding spoke to William's mother who advised him not to worry about the repair job.
"He's always been a gentleman. There's not too many people like him," the friend, who asked not to be named, said. "He'd do anything for his wife. And the kids love him."
Police search for William Tyrell / Picture: Nathan Edwards Source: News Corp Australia
During the four-month search for William, Mr Spedding had appealed for help to find the missing boy through his Facebook page.
Like many of the locals, the grandfather has been posting updates about the search. On December 4 he shared a link to a photo of little William in a blue checked shirt and a message that said: "Today, somebody is keeping a secret. They got up this morning. Had breakfast.
Missing ... William Tyrell, 3 / Picture: Supplied Source: News Corp Australia
Realised they need to pick up some more milk. Wasted time on Facebook. Made some calls. All the while maintaining a poker face."
Mr Spedding added his own message: "Don't give up looking."
Superintendent Fehon said that William's distraught family were being kept up to date.
He said that investigators searched "a number of premises" in Laurieton and surrounding areas.
Forensic police at the scene / Picture: Peter Lorimer Source: News Corp Australia
"This is a line of inquiry that we are taking as part of the normal investigation phase for an investigation of this nature," Supt Fehon said.
It was "truly just one line of inquiry" he added.
the first-floor unit above William Spedding's pawn broking business / Picture: Nathan Edwards Source: News Corp Australia
"We were thorough up in Kendall so it's just a continuation of that," he said.
"It's a three-year-old child, remember."
Supt Fehon said he did not expect any arrests to be made in the next 24 hours.
William Spedding has posted on social media in relation to the disappearance of William Tyrell. Source: Supplied
WILLIAM'S TROUBLED LIFE WAS IMPROVING WHEN HIS FAMILY'S PEACE WAS SHATTERED
Janet Fife-Yeomans
FOR someone so young, William Tyrell's upbringing was far too troubled. But the little boy had seemed to be regaining some normalcy in his life when he went missing four months ago.
For complicated legal reasons, the three-year-old's family has never been named but a family friend described William as a "happy, cheeky, adventurous" boy.
He had arrived with his four-year-old sister to visit their grandmother in Kendall on the afternoon of Thursday, September 11.
Their grandfather had died and the family was there to look after their grandmother, who they called "Nana", after she had recently got out of hospital.
William Tyrell / Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied
While the family history must remain a mystery, they had driven from their home at Killara on Sydney's upper north shore to the mid-north coast for what was meant to be a few relaxing days in Nana's comfortable home close to the bush.
William loved everything to do with Spider-Man, fire engines and police cars and on the Friday morning he was dressed in his favourite Spider-Man costume as he played a familiar game of hide-and-seek with his sister around the outside of the house. Their father had driven into town, about 2km away, to do some shopping.
Their mother made a cup of tea and their grandmother was sitting in the garden when William ran off around the side of the house about 10.25am. He has not been seen ever since.
Police divers from search a billabong / Picture: David Moir Source: News Corp Australia
No screams or cries for help were heard and William's sister did not see what happened but when his mother went to look for him less than five minutes later, he was gone.
Police have investigated William's wider family and there is nothing to indicate any involvement in his disappearance.
A family friend, Nicole, has spoken on behalf of William's parents, saying they are devastated as police continue to keep them up to date with the search.
"He would have been beside himself to see the amount of police cars and police officers at Nana's house," she has said.
"What we want to do is show him this on his 21st (birthday) and tell him that a lot of people came together to help find him and show him all the police cars that were here for him."
HAMLETS HELPLESS AS SEARCH CONTINUES
Sarah Crawford
IT is the sleepy seaside town that could hide evil.
The biggest thing that ever happened in Laurieton, on the state's mid-north coast, was the day US comedian Bob Hope dropped in — when his plane made an emergency landing in 1944.
Now Laurieton and the beach hamlet of Bonny Hills are the focus of a potential murder investigation into missing toddler William Tyrell.
Comedian and actor Bob Hope / Picture: AP Source: News Limited
Laurieton historian Mitch McKay says the story of Hope's dramatic appearance has become local legend. "It is probably the most-known story because of Hope's notoriety more than anything else," Mr McKay said.
Hope was flying from New Guinea, where he had been entertaining troops, to Sydney when the seaplane developed technical problems and the pilot was forced to land on a sand spit. That evening Hope, infamous for his womanising, gave an impromptu concert at the School of Arts Hall where he enthusiastically taught young women how to do the Hokey Pokey.
At the time Laurieton was a fishing village with a population of about 600. Now 1931 people live in the town, which has become popular with retirees.
Just outside Laurieton at Bonny Hills, one resident , who wished not to be named, said the investigation was the only thing people were discussing.
"It is just a one-pub town … with a very close community, we are all shocked," she said.
Port Macquarie Hastings councillor Adam Roberts said people were struggling to come to terms with the fact that William may have been murdered in Bonny Hills. "There is a sense of disbelief that this could happen in our area," he said. "There is a feeling of helplessness, if there was something we could do, we would be doing it."
Originally published as Trying to dig up the truth about William
