A GEO-CACHE game leading treasure hunters to a bushland location marked with the name of William Tyrrell has been described as 'disappointing' by police investigating the toddler's disappearance.
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Written in bright pink paint on a tree near Middle Brother, just 10 kilometres from where the then three-year-old went missing from his grandmother's home were the words "Jesus Saves William Tyrrell". A jar with a number of small items including post-it notes were found near the tree.
Strike Force Rosann Detective Inspector Gary Jubelin and his team were alerted to the find on Sunday and believe it to be a part of the global geo-caching treasure hunt game using GPS technology to guide participants to tagged locations.
“About 6.30pm (Sunday), a member of the public contacted police after a reference to William Tyrrell was found painted on a tree in a state forest near Stewart’s River, about 10km south of Kendall,” NSW Police said via a statement to the media.
“Following inquiries, police have determined the items and painting were a result of ‘geocaching’, an outdoor activity in which participants use GPS coordinates to hide and seek items.
“Given the circumstances of William’s disappearance, police are disappointed that it has been included in a recreational game.
“Police maintain their appeal for anyone with information concerning William’s disappearance to contact Crime Stoppers.”
In response to the incident, Geocache NSW extended reassurance the graffiti has nothing to do with their activity.
"As an organisation that promotes Geocaching in NSW and represents the hobby to government and councils, I can say the graffiti has nothing to do with geocaching. Like everyone else we feel bad for William's family and hope the mystery is solved soon," treasurer Richard Jary from Geocaching NSW stated.
"This is purely a coincidence, the geocache was placed in July 2012 well before the disappearance and is part of a series of caches placed in the area, and the last finder on (January 13, 2016) says the graffiti wasn't present then. So it is a recent addition to the tree that just happens to unfortunately have been written above a cache hide.
"Geocaching is a family friendly hobby that appeals to people of all ages and lifestyles including kids who love finding the treasure that is hidden in a lot of them."
