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Person of interest in William Tyrell case speaks out for the first time

Tony Jones threatened to “smash” cameras as he detailed his whereabouts on the day of the toddler’s suspected abduction.
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A person of interest in the highly-publicised disappearance of William Tyrrell is making headlines after publicly offering an alibi for the first time.

In a foster grandmother’s home on in Kendall on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales on September 12, 2014.

“Were you in Kendall that day?” Marshall asked him.

“Piss off idiot, I wasn’t even questioned on it … Go away, I was not!” Mr Jones replied.

“Where I was on the day he disappeared was with my next door neighbour, getting her hot water system, you got your answers? Look I answered your questions mate, go away,” he yelled.

Mr Jones was living with relative Katrina at the time of the then-three-year-old’s disappearance, who also appeared on the news program to speak about how they are now estranged.

She began by calling into question Mr Jones’ alibi, revealing that she’d “never heard” of him helping a neighbour on the day the toddler vanished.

Katrina went on to speak about a white car belonging to the Jones’ family that was previously seized by police for forensic examination.

Mr Jones previously denied ever having used the vehicle, claiming it was his ex-wife’s, but Katrina said he had driven the car on several occasions without her knowledge.

The Toyota station wagon matched the description of one seen by William’s foster mother on the day he disappeared.

William, then three, disappeared from his foster grandmother’s yard in Kendall on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales in 2014.

Katrina also said the connections between Mr Jones and a number of other persons of interest — including links with Paul Bickford and Bill Spedding — were hard to fathom.

“The connections are just insane, they are almost inexplicable to how they’ve come about,” she said.

She ended with a message for her estranged relative, saying: “I’m not accusing anyone of anything but if anything is known, no matter how little it is, for God’s sake speak up. It’s been nearly four years. Don’t let that little boy leave his mum and dad for any longer. The kid deserves to be home.”

Mr Jones has not been charged over the suspected abduction, but police are yet to rule him out of their investigations. He has denied any involvement in the disappearance.

WATCH: Last year, a bombshell court ruling revealed William was in foster care at the time of his disappearance. Post continues…

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Speaking with 9 News, Detective Chief Inspector Gary Jubelin of the NSW Police Homicide Squad recently said it was “highly likely” police had already come across the perpetrator of the crime.

Det. Jubelin added that police have turned their attention to a group of just a few hundred persons of interest, narrowed down from a list of thousands.

“The strongest likelihood is that we’ve already got the name of the person involved,” he said.

“I would be sweating.”

He later added: “Even if it is one person involved, I am sure that there’s people close to that person that have suspicions about that person. They’re the people that we’re interested in speaking to.”

An unprecedented award of $1 million has been offered by the NSW government for any information leading to the recovery of the missing boy.

Anybody with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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