I could feel it coming from the moment our interview began and choked back rising emotions for as long as possible, but there was nothing I could do to suppress the unfiltered sympathy and heartbreak that comes with understanding the agonising loss of William’s parents.
Quite simply, I lost it during our interview.
As they described William – this adorable, loveable, cautious little boy – my mind scrambled with selfish thoughts of protecting my own three children. An image of one of my young sons in particular kept magnifying in my thoughts, the more William’s mum and dad described their beautiful boy.
And so I cried. Tears that might have crossed a professional line, but pure uncontrollable emotion as a parent or anyone would, sitting across from a Mum and Dad expressing raw, tortured loss.
I’d met with William’s parents some time before we recorded our interview for 60 Minutes, and spoken with them since at length, but my focus on the day had been making sure they were comfortable telling their story. This wasn’t going to be easy for them.
We had broadly talked about the structure of the interview, and all of us had agreed it was important we get to know William and his character so we could all connect to him, and help find him.
But from the start Mum and Dad were just so powerful and eager for everyone to know and love their boy, like they do. They are such good people, and William is such a good little boy who’s full of character, so from the moment our cameras rolled and they showed me William’s favourite toys, I was lost in their story and account of their boy and the day he went missing.
As interviews go, the focus of some of my questions got a bit foggy with emotion. They weren’t really well put, blurred at times, and sensitive to ask. But this was not my interview it was theirs – their chance to let everyone know about their boy, and their heartache and their loss. And they did that so well with such remarkable strength.
As I mentioned in our 60 Minutes story, there are legal complications that have blocked them and us reporting their story properly. But believe me, this is a family that doesn’t deserve doubt or suspicion just because their full identities can’t be shown.
This is a family that needs love and support if William is to come home.
To see the complete video of the interview see here.
