The next search target in the William Tyrrell investigation is already in sight as detectives brush off a fruitless, three-day operation as a minor setback.
A meticulous search of bushland on the NSW mid-north coast was completed this week almost six months after the three-year-old disappeared from outside his grandmother's home.
Up to 30 officers scoured difficult terrain about 20km from where William was last seen in Kendall.
Police divers joined the effort on Wednesday but didn't find any evidence in a murky swamp and dam nestled in the bushland.
A man's leather shoe was among the insignificant items pulled from the water.
In the two days before, officers found drink cans and wooden stakes, like boundary markers, which were sent off for forensic testing, a police source said.
It was a far cry from the red and blue Spider-Man suit that William was wearing when he vanished and police were believed to be hoping to find.
Detective Inspector Gary Jubelin said it was disappointing no evidence was found.
"From an investigator's point of view, it is disappointing but it's just a minor hiccup in a potentially long investigation," he said.
And while he had an idea where he was going to search next, Det Insp Jubelin wasn't giving anything away.
"I do have an idea but I am not prepared to discuss what, when or where we would search again," he said.
Police have searched a number of places since William went missing and wouldn't rule out whether that included interstate locations.
In one of the more public operations, police raided the home and business of person of interest William Spedding in January.
Mr Spedding, a white goods repairman with a business in Laurieton, was due to fix William's grandmother's washing machine around the time the toddler vanished.
But he told police he didn't carry out the repairs on September 12, the day William vanished from outside his grandmother's home.
Detectives believe he was snatched from the quiet, leafy street in an opportunistic crime.
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