In a major development in the case of William Tyrrell's disappearance, New South Wales Police will launch a large-scale forensic search in bushland today.
William, aged three at the time, was playing in the yard of his foster grandmother's home on Benaroon Drive, Kendall, on the NSW mid-north coast when he disappeared.
He was wearing a Spiderman suit at the time and no trace of him has ever been found since.
The four-week search, which will be conducted in bushland around Kendall, was announced by police on Tuesday afternoon.
Search experts from the Public Order and Riot Squad are running the operation, which will be extensive.
Police said the initial search around the rural township of Kendall was focused only on finding William — not with a view that there was deliberate human intervention.
That initial 10-day search was conducted in nearby forests, creeks and paddocks but returned no clues.
Since William went missing, police have identified almost 700 persons of interest, conducted hundreds of interviews and gathered more than 4,000 pieces of evidence.
NSW Police announced an unprecedented $1 million reward for information leading to William's recovery on the second anniversary of his disappearance in 2016.
William's foster parents have always said they would never give up looking for him and still maintain hope he will one day be found.
