FA inserted himself into the investigation IMO ( I have no idea if he was on the cops radar before this )
According to FA, he says when he was in down in Nowra in jail ( he says he was in Nowra Jan 2018 til Oct 2018 ) , he told a correctives officer that he wanted to talk to detectives involved in the William Tyrrell case.
Than when FA was back in Port Macquarie in a District Court Trial ..........
From my notes :
On 26/10/2018 Detective Senior Constable Robert Dingle ( he was stationed out of Port Mac ) was notified that a person by the name of Frank Abbott wanted to speak to police about WT - Det Dingle was on the Strike Force earlier that year in July
He went & interviewed FA ( he was in custody )
FA told him about a trip ( on an unknown date ) he & RP took to a " log dump" , which passed a large radio / comminication tower ,at a property west of Kendall ( it's actually near the school area - property owner was a friend of RP - had known him for more than 20 yrs - per this person's evidence , this property can be assessed via Kendall Forrest Rd , Rt at 1st intersection & follow an unmarked trail to junction - communication tower is on ridge from memory & still on private property )
He said while there, they ran into a man with a white station wagon ( unable to say make or model ) with a blue trailer attatched & another man ( 30 - 50yrs old ) with a young boy about 7, ( FA was unable to give any more detail & said that " his memory was not reliable at his age" ) & than when pressed he was unable to describe or commit to those other 2 people being there or not.
FA told the detective that one of the males introduced himself as "Jones from out west " & he said he asked him if he was " Bobby Jones " The man said he wasn't.
Mr Craddock to Det Dingle : In trying to narrow the date , was it before or after WT missing?
Det Dingle : He re-called he was released from jail & lived at Misty Way
Mr Craddock : Just to put in some context, He did fall back on his difficulty with his memory?
Det Dringle : Wasn't an immediate response to questions.
Coroner : Did Mr FA himself try to explain to you how it could be connected?
Det Dingle : Guy he saw at log dump & connection to TJ ( via media ) .
" the gentleman he'd seen at the log dump he now believed was the same person he's seen on TV as a POI in the toddler's disappearance"
He was interested if his information could assist WT.
Said his charges are a misunderstanding & that he felt sorry for WT.
Det Dingle said FA was "adamant" that he wanted to ensure " the information would make it's way to the Strike Force"
The person he was talking about was TJ's who had recently just been on ACA! ( Fen 2018 )
FA than had Q's for Det Dingle :
FA : when you were questioning me, Misty Way....
FA : I said I couldn't remember if before or after went to jail.
FA : Went to Jail 4.2015 & out 7.2015
Coroner : No that wasn't said
FA : I did make ...Nowra 26/1/2018 to Oct 2018 than was back in Port, I spoke to officer @ Nowra.
Det Dingle confirmed he was not given any information in that detail!
FA made Det Dingle confirm that he did not ask for any favours for court & replied " No he didn't "
See how everything is clear as mud 
( Just to add this was all when Covid was really taking off - I have a note in my notes that all water jugs were removed from court & bottled water bought in )
Those weeks in Taree were bloody rough in so many ways - I had to take a break for along time after, but interesting reading back now ( on my very worn hard to read notes !)
Apologies for any typos or if it's hard to understand
* Italic's are my words
