The disappearance of Anthony ‘AJ’ Elfalak had haunting similarities with the suspected abduction of toddler William Tyrrell almost seven years ago to the day.
‘AJ’, 3, vanished in the blink of an eye three days ago from his family’s rural property near Putty, 150km from Sydney on Friday, September 3 before he was found on Monday.
A huge search had failed to find any trace of him but police impounded a neighbour’s ute and sealed off a nearby shed as they desperately looked for clues.
Police confirmed on Monday morning tht he had been found and was being assessed by paramedics. No further details are available yet.
The case had striking parallels with little William Tyrell, 3, who disappeared from a front yard in Kendall, northern NSW, on September 12, 2012.
The disappearance of Anthony ‘AJ’ Elfalak (pictured) has haunting similarities with the suspected abduction of toddler William Tyrrell almost seven years ago to the day
MISSING TODDLERS
The similarities begin with the age of the two young boys – both were three years old when they vanished without a trace.
William, last seen wearing a Spiderman outfit, came from a troubled background and lived with foster parents.
On the day he disappeared, his foster parents were visiting relatives in Kendall and William was last seen playing in the garden at the front of his grandmother’s home.
Suddenly though, the adults realised he had gone quiet, and when they investigated they discovered he had disappeared.
They desperately searched the local area for 15 minutes before raising the alarm with police.
Last Friday, a similar heartbreaking scene played out at the rural home of little Anthony Elfalak, known as AJ, who is also 3.
The toddler is autistic and non-verbal but had been playing with his three brothers – Michael, Patrick and Alexander – while his mother, Kelly, prepared lunch and his father, Anthony, serviced the family’s quad bikes.
When the oldest brother went to the toilet, he took AJ with him and left the youngster near the porch in the dining area – but when he came out, AJ was gone.
‘The boys had a puzzled look on their face,’ family friend Alan Hashem revealed on Monday. He was at the home at the time helping prepare lunch when AJ vanished.
‘We had these ATVs, we had about four of them and we thought if AJ’s gone somewhere it’s not going to be far.’
Both children disappeared in broad daylight, with William vanishing around 10.30am and AJ around midday.
The toddler is autistic and non-verbal but had been playing with his three brothers – Michael, Patrick and Alexander – while his mother, Kelly, prepared lunch and his father, Anthony, serviced the family’s quad bikes. AJ’s parents are seen here with three of their sons
REMOTE BUSHLAND
Curiously, both boys vanished from homes backing onto or surrounded by remote bushland.
AJ’s family live in a remote property in a forest 150km north-west of Sydney, midway between the Blue Mountains and the Hunter Valley region.
Unusually, despite the lonely rural location, the family had a CCTV camera overseeing the property, but footage from the crucial time around AJ’s disappearance is said to be missing.
The family swooped into action within minutes of realising the youngster had gone and swept the area on their quad bikes without success.
Police and emergency services launched a massive manhunt across the area around the home once the alarm was raised, but the tricky terrain, thick bush and wet conditions made the search difficult.
Police divers scoured a nearby muddy dam looking for any sign of the youngster until an excavator dug out the wall of the dam to drain it but it still proved fruitless.
AJ’s family live in a remote property in a forest 150km north-west of Sydney between the Blue Mountains and the Hunter region. Seen here is the neighbouring shed sealed off by police as a possible crime scene
Police and emergency services launched a massive manhunt across the area around the home once the alarm was raised, but the tricky terrain, thick bush and wet conditions made the search difficult
Police helicopters, drones, horse riders and trail bikes were all been brought in to help with the search, with the family also renting their own helicopter to assist.
AJ’s family however were convinced he did not wander off into the bushland.
‘He’s been taken. If he was around here, I would have found him by now,’ his mother Kelly said before the toddler was found on Monday.
‘I have searched the property… I’m still driving around and I cannot find him. If he was here, he’d be close to the property.
‘He’s not a wanderer…he never leaves my side.’
William Tyrrell also vanished from a home backing onto bush when he disappeared in 2014. His foster grandmother’s home was close to scrubby bush and nearby dense forest.
Soon after he disappeared, locals living close to thick bush at Herons Creek 4km away from where William was last seen reported hearing a child’s scream.
William Tyrrell also vanished from a home backing onto bush when he disappeared in 2014. His foster grandmother’s home was close to scrubby bush and nearby dense forest
MYSTERIOUS CARS
Key to both cases are unusual cars spotted at the scene which may or may not have been involved in snatching the youngsters.
William Tyrell’s foster mother saw two strange cars, an older white station wagon and a grey sedan, parked outside her mother’s home on the morning the toddler vanished.
‘The white car was parked in front. The grey car was parked behind it. They were parked in the middle of two driveways,’ she told an inquest last year.
‘I looked at those cars and thought, that’s odd. And then I just went back inside’.
She also spotted a third teal-coloured car driving up the street, pulling in and turning around. She gave detailed descriptions to police but they have never been traced.
Other neighbours confirmed hearing at least one car driving up the normally quiet road at the time of the disappearance, but had thought it was just a postal vehicle.
On Sunday, police impounded a white ute from a nearby property (pictured). They also took CCTV footage from a service station in Colo Heights 40km which could provide vital evidence
At AJ’s home, the family spotted a mystery ute outside their home at the same time as they launched their search for the missing toddler.
‘We all stand up and at that moment I had the closest view to the driveway and noticed a white ute, we believe either a Mazda or a Toyota, a much older model,’ revealed family friend Alan Hashem.
‘It was slowly driving through here…we didn’t think much of it.’
AJ’s mum Kelly added: ‘I saw it, it was driving really slowly, I thought it was my neighbour’s.’
A neighbour heard AJ’s mother raise the alarm and then spotted the vehicle – a white 1987 dual cab Toyota Hilux ute – driving down the road to the property.
He said the ute drove along Yengo Drive, 100m from the family’s house, before going out to Putty Road – something he found unusual.
He added: ‘We didn’t see it enter. We see every car that enters because it’s a dead end… Something’s not right. Something doesn’t stack up.’
On Sunday, police impounded a white ute from a nearby property. They also took CCTV footage from a service station in Colo Heights 40km which could provide vital evidence.
Police admitted it was now a ‘site of interest’.
‘Police are absolutely looking into every angle possible in relation to AJ’s disappearance,’ Superintendent Tracy Chapman said.
‘Obviously our focus is very much around the search and trying to locate AJ.’
AJ’s family live in a remote property in a forest 150km north-west of Sydney midway between the Blue Mountains and the Hunter Valley region, while William Tyrell disappeared from the home of his foster grandmother in Kendall in northern NSW hinterland, 350km from Sydney