The inquest into the disappearance of William Tyrrell will examine the police theory that his adoptive mother buried his body in bushland after he fell from a balcony and died on the morning of his disappearance.

“This is why we are here,” said barrister Gerard Craddock SC, during Monday’s resumed hearing into the death of the three-year-old, who was last seen once in Kendall, on the NSW mid-north coast, in 2014.

“The theory (is) William must have died at (his adoptive grandmother’s home at) 48 Benaroon Drive (in Kendall),” Mr Craddock said.

‘The theory…according to the police is that she had to quickly resolve the fact that if William’s accidental death was discovered, she might lose ‘Lindsay’.’

Lindsay – that is not her real name, which cannot be revealed for legal reasons – was another child in the foster mother’s care at that time, who also cannot be named.

“Police allege that in this state of mind, (the adoptive mother) placed William in his mother’s car,” Mr Craddock said.

“After alerting (a neighbor) that William was missing, (she) drove her mother’s car to Batar Creek Road and placed William’s body somewhere in the undergrowth.”

Mr Craddock told the hearing on Monday that the foster mother had no memory of the precise time she drove her mother’s car from the house after the boy disappeared on the morning of September 12, 2014.

The inquest into the disappearance of William Tyrrell will examine the police theory that his adoptive mother buried his body in bushland after he fell from a balcony.

William’s adoptive parents attend the hearings, as do Strike Force detectives Rosann and his boss, Chief Superintendent David Laidlaw.

In 2021, police search the Kendall home from which William disappeared in 2014, theorizing he may have fallen from the balcony in an accidental death

The investigation’s lead lawyer also told the hearing Monday that he could not confirm the adoptive mother’s claims that she had seen “strange cars” on the street.

William’s biological father and adoptive parents attend the hearings, as do Strike Force detectives Rosann and his boss, Chief Superintendent David Laidlaw.

The long-running investigation into the 10-year mystery will also hear from Professor Jon Olley, a water science expert who was on hand during the new hunt for the toddler’s body in a new dig organized in 2021.

Mr Craddock said the area around Batar Creek Road had been thoroughly searched by police who did not believe any trace of William had been left there.

He also said the search for William after his disappearance – with police, firefighters, cadaver dogs, chainsaws and hydraulic equipment – meant the little boy had not simply been lost in the search area.

“William could not travel under his own power beyond the intensive search area,” he said. “The conclusion must be that there was human intervention.

“There is no doubt that no eyewitness can recount how he left the confines of 48 Benaroon Drive.”

The inquiry, which began in 2019 but has been plagued by prolonged delays, has now entered its final round of hearings, which will be held this week and more than two weeks just before Christmas.

William’s disappearance became one of Australia’s most notorious missing persons cases.

The inquest before Deputy Coroner Harriet Grahame – examining William’s disappearance and presumed death – was delayed last year as prosecutors assessed the charges against the boy’s adoptive mother.

The inquest into the disappearance of three-year-old William Tyrrell (above) resumed for its final round of hearings in November and December.

One police theory is that William fell from the veranda of his adoptive grandmother’s Kendal house and his body was then disposed of by his adoptive mother (above, with adoptive father).

William’s adoptive mother and father have consistently denied allegations that they played a role in his disappearance or any wrongdoing.

The inquiry began in 2019 and lasted 18 months before being adjourned in October 2020 and Ms Grahame’s findings were due in June 2021.

The investigation was pushed back so police could launch new investigations in late 2021, which involved searching new locations around Kendall.

In the new searches, teams searched the garden of his adoptive grandmother’s house and nearby bushland, but turned up nothing of significance.

The investigation was later postponed as prosecutors weighed evidence regarding the missing boy’s adoptive mother.

Last year, police handed a file of evidence to the Director of Public Prosecutions recommending that William’s adoptive mother be charged with perverting the course of justice and interfering with a corpse.

At that time, the foster parents’ attorney, Rylie Hahn, asked police to release any evidence.

“William’s adoptive mother and adoptive father are demanding the disclosure of evidence which police believe forms the basis of criminal proceedings,” Ms Hahn said last year.

“We are halfway through the investigation and William is still missing and his case is unsolved.

“William’s adoptive mother maintains she had nothing to do with his disappearance…and is asking police to continue searching for William and what happened to him.”

Then, in August this year, Ms Grahame received a letter from the DPP, outlining the status of this request for advice.

Professor Jon Olley, a water science expert at the William Tyrrell excavations in 2021, was called as a witness at the latest round of inquest hearings.

William Tyrrell, dressed as his favorite character, in a photo shortly before his disappearance while playing on the veranda in Kendall, on the NSW mid north coast, with his grandmother and sister

In the letter, Director of Public Prosecutions Sally Dowling SC said New South Wales Police had asked her office in April to “pause” its request for advice until the conclusion of the latest round of investigations. investigative hearings.

In 2022, William’s adoptive mother was found not guilty of lying to the NSW Crime Commission.

In November last year, William’s adoptive father was also acquitted of five counts of lying to the NSW Crime Commission.

The court was then told that during the Criminal Commission hearing, barrister Sophie Callan SC questioned the foster mother about whether William had fallen from the balcony and whether she had disposed of the body.

The couple have denied any wrongdoing or disposing of her corpse.