And it is a question that is still heard loud and clear by the police officers and detectives of Strike Force Rosann, led by Detective Chief Inspector Gary Jubelin, who have tirelessly and with diligence, explored thousands of leads into the case of a little boy lost.

Today (June 13) they arrive back where it all started – at Benaroon Drive, Kendall – the small country town south of Port Macquarie that will forever be different since a cheeky three-year-old in a Spiderman suit met with something, someone truly awful.

Strike Force Rosann has set up a search command centre once again in Kendall and with the strength of the NSW Police’s Public Order and Riot Squad, will scour the bushland surrounding the property where William mysteriously vanished on September 12, 2014 at around 10.30am. 

He was playing innocently in the front yard of his grandmother’s then home. In an instant, he was gone.

For the next 10 days, hundreds of local residents and emergency services workers combined to search the rural township, looking in forests, creeks and paddocks for the boy.

The initial search, while extensive, was focused only on finding William – a little boy who was lost – and not with a view of deliberate human intervention.

Five months later, in February 2015, homicide detectives take over the case and announce it is likely William had been abducted.

In the years that followed, Det Ch Insp Jubelin and his team have acted on tip-offs, interviewed persons of interest and explored allegations of a paedophile ring on the mid north coast.

They have remained close to William’s foster carers, supporting their public appeals for information and campaign to bring international focus on the investigation.

In 2016, a $1 million reward was offered for information leading to the return or recovery of missing child. It was the biggest reward ever offered by the state government.

This search is different. And it starts today.

Something has brought this massive forensic operation back to the start, and this time they aren’t looking for a boy who simply wandered off into the bush.

They hope to find the crucial piece of an almost four-year puzzle of a little boy who vanished, and uncover information that will lead them to the person, or people, who have known about it all along.

Four weeks have been committed to this latest search. 

If you have information, call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

The magnitude of the investigation to date has included: