A convicted paedophile who is a 'person of interest' in the baffling disappearance of William Tyrrell once had a son who mysteriously died at the same age the toddler vanished.
Frank Abbott, 80, was living in a caravan 12km from the Kendall property on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales where the three-year-old boy vanished without a trace on September 12, 2014.
Described as a 'dirty old man', he is currently serving a 16 year prison sentence for the sexual abuse of three young children and was acquitted of a teenage girl's 1968 murder in the small community of Pitt Town, 60km north-west of the Sydney.
Despite being in prison, he has taken a keen interest in the coronial inquiry into William's likely abduction and murder - watching every day via Zoom.
It has now been revealed for the first time that his own young son, who was like William around three years old, died - with the findings of an inquest sealed by a NSW coroner under 'confidentiality' rules.
This means the circumstances surrounding his death must remain a secret.
One of the key persons of interest in the baffling disappearance of William Tyrrell (pictured) once had a son who mysteriously died at the same age as the foster child
Seven years on from William's disappearance, a two-part documentary by 7News Investigates has uncovered the bombshell new information - but the mystery which has gripped Australia still remains unsolved.
Abbott has been spoken to by police about his whereabouts on the day William disappeared from his foster grandmother's home while playing in the yard in a Spiderman costume.
While he has not yet been able to provide police with an alibi, with no one able to vouch for his movements that day, he maintains he had nothing to do with what happened to William.
Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting Abbott had any involvement, and is merely stating that police have spoken to him.
Jailed paedophile Frank Abbott, 80 (pictured), is a key person of interest in the disappearance of William Tyrrell
Ray Porter (left) allegedly told an aged care nurse he drove William and a fishing mate 300km north day after his disappearance in his white stationwagon (right)
Police spoke to Abbott about his movements after a bombshell claim several years after William's disappearance.
Abbott's friend Ray Porter, who died of kidney failure, allegedly told a nurse he had driven 'my best fishing mate and that little boy from the television' 300km north.
Uniting Care nurse Kirston Okpegbue told a coronial inquest last year that Porter had rested his head on her shoulder in August 2019 revealing he believed he was tricked into giving the pair a lift up Pacific Highway towards Queensland - a day after the abduction.
While Mr Porter did not explicitly name Abbott, he had referred to a 'Frank' - with the pair known to be fishing buddies.
'That was his only friend. The only person I've ever seen Ray with was Frank Abbott,' an unnamed associate told the programme.
'And he described the little boy from the TV which would be William Tyrrell.'
William was playing with his sister at their foster grandmother's Benaroon Drive home (pictured) when he mysteriously disappeared seven years ago
This is a caravan Abbott lived in on the mid-north coast of New South Wales following William's disappearance
Highway cameras captured Porter's vehicle on the southbound Pacific Motorway camera at Kew on September 13, and on the north and southbound cameras at Port Macquarie the following day.
Williams' foster mother also told police a white station-wagon matching the description was parked near her parents' property on the morning of his disappearance.
The inquest separately heard that a worker at a takeaway shop where Abbott used to do repairs reported the elderly man making a 'strange' comment about William's whereabouts.
'Frank made a comment he thought they were searching in the wrong spot for William Tyrrell, which seemed like a very strange comment to make,' Dean Anderson told the court.
Abbott also once spoke of smelling something 'dead' in bushland by a road in nearby Logans Crossing, Mr Anderson said.
Mr Anderson said he suggested the smell was probably a dead kangaroo, to which Abbott replied: 'No, I know the difference between a dead kangaroo and a dead human smell.'
Revelations also came to light that Abbot was acquitted of the gruesome 1968 murder of 17-year-old shop assistant Hellen Harrison after being trialled twice.
William Tyrrell (pictured) disappeared without a trace while playing in the yard and was last heard making roaring sounds like a lion
Homicide Squad's Strike Force Rosann inspecting the yard of William Tyrrell's grandmother's home in Kendall, NSW on September 12 after reportedly receiving new information
William and his five-year-old sister had made the five-hour drive from Sydney with their foster parents before his baffling disappearance.
His foster mother, who cannot be identified due to legal reasons surrounding the identification of foster carers, said she had only taken her eyes off William for 'five minutes'.
FBI-trained Kris Illingsworth who worked as a NSW police detective said it was almost certainly an opportunistic attack.
He also
