Several persons of interest in the disappearance of NSW boy William Tyrrell - many of whom have never been named - could be forced to reveal what they know under the spotlight of a coronial inquest.
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In the fourth year since William's disappearance, NSW Police have announced an inquest before Deputy NSW Coroner Harriet Grahame is proposed for early 2019.
A brief directions hearing was held at the State Coroner's Court in Glebe on Wednesday, December 19.
Counsel assisting the coroner, Gerard Craddock SC, told the court on Wednesday that it wasn't presently possible to conclude William was dead.
"The police investigation into his disappearance is ongoing and police are following active leads at present," Mr Craddock said.
Deputy State Coroner Harriet Grahame, who personally visited the investigation site in Kendall earlier this year, will conduct the inquest at the new Forensic Medicine and Coroner's Court Complex (FMCCC) at Lidcombe.
The $91.5 million building replaced the existing facility at Glebe which has housed inquests into the deaths of people such as Matthew Leveson, Scott Johnson, Phillip Hughes and Belinda Peisley.
The high-tech facilities at the Forensic Medicine and Coroners Court Complex will enable more comprehensive and timely investigations of sudden and unexplained deaths. These include complex cases and disasters involving mass casualties
The William Tyrrell inquest is currently scheduled to begin on 25 March 2019, with the first segment to run for five days.
Further hearing dates for the inquest are likely to be set for later in 2019.
A massive brief of evidence will need to be compiled from physical artifacts, thousands of tip-offs and a "persons of interest" list hundreds of names long. More than 15,000 pieces of information have been collected over the last four years.
"(An inquest) makes us go over all the evidence collected in the last four years - it's an enormous task," Homicide Squad commander Scott Cook said.
"The coroner will consider that and may well ask us to do further things.”
Detective Chief Inspector Gary Jubelin, head of Strike Force Rosann, sent a search team back into bushland at Cedars Loggers Lane and Batar Creek Road in Batar Creek on June 27, confirming this was a new specific area of interest.
Strike Force Rosann, which includes a contingent from the Public Order and Riot Squad, returned to Kendall on June 13 to execute a renewed search for information into the then three-year-old’s disappearance from his grandmother’s home on Benaroon Drive in September 2014.
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“We strongly believe there are people out there who have information on this and I make a point to those people – if you do have information concerning what happened to William you are at risk of committing a criminal offence by concealing an offence if you do not come forward,” Det Insp Jubelin said at the search site in Kendall earlier this year.
“I suggest you come to us before we come to you.”
A spokesperson from NSW Police said a ‘small pool of high risk persons of interest are actively being investigated’.
Detective Superintendent Cook praised the investigators working on the case for their "excellent work".
A police source told AAP detectives working on William's case will push for specific persons of interest - those "at the top of the list" - to give evidence at the inquest.
The coroner's legal powers mean witnesses could be forced to explain their movements and what they know about William's disappearance - unlike conventional police interviews.
Many of the people have never been named in the media, the police source said, adding only "some names" came out publicly during the investigation.
NSW Police in a statement said investigators "would like to acknowledge the continued strength and courage of William Tyrrell’s families".
"Over the past year, investigators have continued to explore lines of inquiry in an effort to find out what happened to William, including a large-scale forensic search," it said.
The deputy coroner has requested a brief of evidence which will be provided by the end of the year.
The inquest will be "an opportunity to test information and evidence gathered by Strikeforce Rosann and further the investigation".
"This is another step in ensuring answers are provided to William’s loved ones," the police statement said.
William was playing in his grandmother's yard at Kendall on the NSW mid north coast when he vanished on September 12, 2014. He was three.