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- William was last seen in September 2014
- He also disappeared in February 2012
- Do you know more? tips@dailymail.com
- READ MORE: I commanded the Homicide Squad when William Tyrrell went missing. Here’s my furious response to podcast claims
By PADRAIG COLLINS FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA
Published: | Updated:
Shock revelations have emerged that William Tyrrell was reported missing years before he disappeared on September 12, 2024.
William, who was three-years-old when he vanished more than 10 years ago, had been taken into hiding two years earlier by his grandmother, Natalie Collins.
Ms Collins said she was behind his first disappearance after a court ordered him be taken from his biological parents – her son Brendan Collins and Karlie Tyrrell.
‘So I hid them,’ Ms Collins told news.com.au’s podcast Witness: William Tyrrell.
‘I hid them for three months after I knew (NSW government officials) were going to take William… I arranged it all.’
William was just seven months old in February 2012 when the court ordered that be taken from his biological parents.
The Department of Family and Community Services was concerned about domestic violence and substance abuse within the boy’s family, a court heard.
William’s mother was at the hearing and so knew her son was going to be placed under the parental responsibility of a NSW government minister.
The mystery of William Tyrrell (pictured) has had another shocking twist, with his biological grandmother revealing that his disappearance on September 12, 2014 was not the first
William, who was three-years-old when he was last seen more than 10 years ago, had also been taken into hiding more than two years earlier by his grandmother, Natalie Collins (pictured)
But when the authorities arrived to collect William from her home that afternoon, the family had gone into hiding with Ms Collins, who said she was the ‘mastermind’ of the disappearance.
A police strike force called Duncraig was set up to find William, and after many failures and wrong turns, it did find him later in 2012, and the boy was placed with foster parents.
That couple, which can’t be identified for legal reasons, reported him missing in 2014.
William has never been seen since and no one has been charged over the disappearance.
The second disappearance a decade ago led to the creation of strike force Rosann.
Ms Collins said given William’s second disappearance, the NSW government ‘didn’t do their job properly’ and should not have taken him from his biological family.
She said ‘this shouldn’t happen these days with foster care children … I’ve got one son in rehab, I’ve got one in jail and my family has been stuffed up.
‘I lost my son and I lost myself on the way.’
The podcast also spoke to a government officer who was there when William was taken from his mother before being placed with his foster parents.
He also wonders is taking William from Ms Tyrrell was the right choice.
‘We take kids off … families all the time,’ the man, who asked to remain anonymous, said, breaking down in tears. ‘You do it. It is part of the job.
The three-year-old was last seen playing hide and seek with his sister outside this house before his disappearance
‘The thing I get upset about is … we took William off Karlie to protect him. I can still see myself walking into that bloody unit … And there was William, on the floor.
‘And I just think … did we do the right thing? Would he still be alive? Maybe.’
The man said he still regularly thinks about William Tyrrell. ‘Not day to day, but it does affect me. Because it keeps coming back.’
An inquest into William’s suspected death will resume in November.
A Department of Communities and Justice spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia that ‘No comment will be given in relation to the ongoing coronial investigation into the disappearance and suspected death of William Tyrrell.’
