Hi Fifth Avenue!
William was on his very first visit to grandma's house. It is a very heavily wooded area, and there dont appear to be any perimeter fences. Easy place for a little boy to inadvertently wander a little further than he meant and get lost- then panic. The bush was searched extensively, but it is very dense and it is possible that he is out there and was missed. No scent was found to follow- but as others have pointed out, scent has not always been reliable in other missing persons cases.
Besides, obviously, little William being missing, one of the most frustrating elements of this case is the fact that there is so much that cannot be published. His full name, dob, all that sort of stuff have never been published. His parents and extended family are not allowed to talk to the media- we have been told that this is for legal reasons due to a complicated family history.
What we do know is that William, prior to his disappearance, lived with his parents and big sister in a very nice part of Sydney. The first photo released was a day care photo, so we know he was attending day care and interacting with other little children. He had travelled to Kendall the day before he went missing with his family, to support his grandmother, who had recently lost her husband. William appears to have a wide extended family, none of whom have made public comment.
We dont know much about William, besides that he was pretty fond of dressing up like a superhero! His photos show, IMO, a happy, confident little boy. However he does have a complicated family history- I have wondered how well he was coached to never talk to strangers. Most of us teach our children about stranger danger, but if William actually had a danger, could he have been coached well enough to hide from rescuers, rather than come out?
I spoke to some children I know about what they would do if they were lost in the bush. They had some crazy ideas! They were lighting fires, heading for the highest peak, walking until they hit a road or a river. No one said they would stay put. I said that they would need to find some shelter, then stay still. Everyone will be looking for you. People you dont know will be calling out your name. One of the kids said "Oh they are the ones you hide from, the creepy ones who pretend they know you". I had a job convincing them that when lost, the stranger danger stuff goes out the window.
There have been a few documented dingo attacks here in Australia. The well publicised case of Azaria Chamberlain at Uluru is pretty well known, and there was another fatal attack on a child at Frazer Island. There have been a number of non fatal attacks over the years, but not many. Dingoes are not, as a rule, very keen on people. The places where the children were fatally attacked- Uluru and Frazer Island, are big camping areas where dingoes have been taught to associate people with food- campfires are full of treats for dingoes. The area around Kendall is not really dingo territory. Wild/feral dogs in the bush would be a much bigger possibility- but there would be heaps of evidence.
I think William is either in the bush, and was missed, or someone took him. I can understand him being missed- I have been in that kind of bushland-it is very dense. Where there is lantana you cant see the ground, and at times need a machete to get through it. If someone took him- where is he? I have a few theories, which I cant go near here. Sometimes I wonder what the point in even having the thread is, if we cant talk about anything, but then I think of William. Even if we cant say anything- we are keeping his name and his photo out there. I hope his family get some comfort from knowing that lots of us are still looking for him, still thinking of them.
