The father of murdered teenager Daniel Morcombe has criticised the NSW government’s refusal to allow William Tyrrell’s parents to speak publicly about their son’s disappearance for seven months before this week.
Many, including Daniel’s father, Bruce, fear the decision may have hindered the police investigation during the crucial weeks following William’s disappearance from his grandmother’s home in Kendall, on the NSW mid north coast, last September.
In a pre-recorded public appeal released yesterday by NSW police, William’s parents asked for help in finding the person they fear has abducted and possibly killed their son.
A spokesman for the NSW Department of Family and Community Services said legal reasons had prevented them speaking out before now and continue to prevent them being identified today.
Mr Morcombe — whose son Daniel was abducted and murdered in 2003 — said he understood there were rules “but in extreme circumstances … it is time it was opened up”.
He and his wife, Denise, conducted thousands of media interviews about their son after he disappeared, and believe this was vital in helping to generate information that was then followed up by police. Daniel’s killer, Brett Cowan, was jailed last year.
The Weekend Australian understands William’s parents, and some in the police, have been frustrated at the family’s inability to appeal publicly for information that may help find their son.
In response to questions about the decision to prevent the parents from speaking publicly, the department yesterday released a statement saying its “key priority … is to always act in the interests of the safety and wellbeing of children and not in any way to jeopardise ongoing police investigations”.
Mr Morcombe said he had also in February contacted police based close to where William disappeared, offering to help support the boy’s family or generate publicity for the case, but had not heard back since. “It was a genuine offer,” Mr Morcombe said. “It wasn’t for me to gain publicity or notoriety, but to offer my assistance in whatever way I could, either to the family or the police.”
Detective Inspector Gary Jubelin, who took over the case in February, said he was not aware of Mr Morcombe’s offer and would follow it up. He declined to comment on the decision not to allow William’s parents to speak publicly before now.
A spokesman for NSW police said they had “received many offers of support in the months since William’s disappearance. While they have been appreciated and were considered, circumstances meant they were not pursued”.
