Couple ‘on verge of nervous breakdowns’ over Tyrell search!23 January 2015
A couple whose home was searched in the hunt for missing toddler William Tyrell are on the “verge of nervous breakdowns” as they face weeks of uncertainty.
William “Bill” Spedding, 63, had his Bonny Hills family home searched for over two days before detectives removed police tape around the property today.
“We’re cooperating with the police,” Mr and Mrs Spedding told the Nine Network today.
“It has been very difficult. I wish to thank our family and friends for the overwhelming support we’ve received.
“We’ll get through this. We will.”
Mr Spedding had visited the home of the missing three-year-old’s grandmother in nearby Kendall last year, four days before the toddler disappeared.
The tradesman, who is not a suspect, had been there after a request for a quote on a washing machine repair but didn’t return to the home on the day William went missing.
Police also searched Mr Spedding’s business in Laurieton. Items seized include a mattress and computer, which will undergo potentially weeks of forensic examination.
Channel Nine reporter Chris O’Keefe interviewed Mr Spedding and his wife Margaret this morning for a report to be aired tonight. He said that the couple seemed fragile.
“He was very tired, very emotional and extremely upset about it,” O’Keefe told news.com.au
“Both said to me they were on the verge of nervous breakdowns, their life has been upturned.”
Mr Spedding has denied having anything to do with William’s disappearance on September 12 and has volunteered to speak with police about the investigation despite not having been arrested or charged with any offence.
O’Keefe said the couple had not been back to their home since Tuesday morning, although police gave them the all-clear to return today.
“They are coping by sticking together (and) keeping a low profile.
“Knowing their family is sticking behind them, and believe their story 100 per cent is making it a bit easier.”
Mr Spedding became entangled in the investigation as he visited William’s grandmother’s home four days before he went missing for a washing machine repair quote.
A close friend said the tradesman had to source a spare part but never installed it after failing to get in contact with William’s grandmother on the morning of September 12.
In the afternoon he called again and spoke to William’s mother, during the early stages of a frantic search for her son.
“She said to Bill `I am afraid you won’t be able to come to do the job, we will call when we are able’,” his friend said.
William Tyrell has been missing since September.
It is understood in the days after William disappeared, and as hundreds of volunteers searched for the toddler in surrounding bushland, Mr Spedding’s work whitegoods van was spotted in the Kendall street outside William’s grandmother’s home.
It sat alone among police and emergency services cars.
An excavator was brought in, septic tank drained and forensic police searched a basement below Mr Spedding’s rented semi-rural property on Wednesday.
Forensic police search the backyard of the Bonny Hills home.
A number of items were seized, including a mattress and a computer, after an earlier search of Mr Spedding’s pawnbroker business, “Speddo’s” in nearby Laurieton.
Police have reiterated Mr Spedding, a carer to three grandchildren, is not a suspect in William’s disappearance.
Mr Spedding took refuge in an apartment in a neighbouring town as the search and media attention continued.
Close friend Colin fears the damage may already have been done. “He is very upset of course,” he told AAP.
“They are trying to cope with it. Even if it’s totally untrue, things like that stick.” His family also leapt to his defence.
“My uncle I love him his (sic) innocent, he would never hurt a fly,” niece Shay Handsaker wrote on Facebook.
Another relative said she felt sick and upset at things that had been said about Mr Spedding.
Mr Spedding and his wife Margaret have been described as loving guardians to the three grandchildren they live with in the Bonny Hills home.
Colin said the couple moved from Wellington to the mid-north coast five years ago for health reasons and into the Bonny Hills property about 12 months ago so there was more room for the children.
Police finished their meticulous search on Thursday and removed police tape from around the family home.
www.news.com.au/national/couple-on-verge-of-nervous-breakdowns-over-tyrell-search/story-fncynjr2-1227194638001