As police converge on the front lawn of the home where William Tyrrell was last seen over seven years ago, it is believed investigators are working on a theory that he may have fallen to his death from a second-storey balcony.
On Tuesday morning, officers were seen digging up and examining parts of the garden bed that sits directly under the balcony.
Cadaver dogs were also seen being taken around the perimeter of the garden.
In the seven years since William’s disappearance, the garden bed had never been searched.
Neighbour Viv Gunter, who has lived opposite the home for two years, said it was “strange” police had returned there after seven years.
“I didn’t think this new evidence would lead back to the house,” he told reporters, “it seems a bit strange to me.”
Officers also returned to a site about 1km from the home, using chainsaws and other heavy-duty equipment to clear dense bushland, in search of William’s remains.
On Monday, Detective Chief Superintendent Darren Bennett had said: “It’s highly likely that if we found something, it would be a body. We are looking for the remains of William Tyrrell, there’s no doubt about that.”
On Tuesday Morning, Police Commissioner Mick Fuller says there had been a significant breakthrough in the case and he’s confident police will solve the mystery.
“There is certainly one person in particular that we are looking closely at,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
“I certainly don’t want to declare too much because again in these cases you do not want to compromise a potential outcome.”
Meanwhile, police have seized a car that once belonged to William Tyrrell’s foster grandmother from a home 375km south of the location where William disappeared.
The vehicle, a silver Mazda hatchback, was seized from a home in Gymea in the Sutherland Shire, and is being held in a secure facility where forensic examinations are underway to determine whether the vehicle may have been used to move William’s body after his death.
Image: NSW Police
This article first appeared on Over60.