Fears the remains of a child found on the side of a South Australian highway could be William Tyrrell.

“That person was about 60 years of age, average height, lightly built and neatly dressed and cleaned cut.”

The headlines are heartbreaking. The grisly remains of a child found on a lonely stretch of highway.

The remains, once stuffed in a suitcase, now scattered by a bush.

The bones are that of a child, only a few years ago a baby who was cradled by its mother now chillingly murdered then hidden in a suitcase and abandoned.

Police are now seeking a man seen with a similar suitcase in the area just six to eight weeks ago.

As the horror of this unfolds, the focus of the nation as we wait for this terrible mystery to be resolved is on the identity of the child.

To the horror of many, there is a possibility that these bones could belong to missing three-year-old William Tyrrell has been canvassed.

Police say they have not yet established the identify of the remains, just that the child was aged between two and seven and had been murdered and dumped in a suitcase within the last month. A preliminary review of the national missing persons lists has found no details of missing children of a similar age in South Australia, causing detectives to look interstate.

And for many of us when news turns to that of a missing child our minds turn to William Tyrrell — the toddler in the Spiderman suit whose cheeky smile and sparkling eyes remain imprinted in our hearts.

Detective Superintendent Des Bray, from the SA Police has said that there was no suggestion the remains were those of missing NSW boy, William Tyrrell.

But it doesn’t stop the speculation. It hasn’t stopped the headlines. It hasn’t stopped the whispers and talk.

Whoever this little boy or girl is – William Tyrrell or another equally as distressing, and equally as heartbreaking case – police are appealing for the public to carefully think about any child of who they might have had concerns.

“Somebody must know somebody where a child has disappeared in suspicious circumstances,” Supt Bray said in a media conference.

“So we would encourage people to have a think about family, friends, acquaintances, people who live near them, perhaps somebody who has had concerns about children who live nearby and how they might be treated, and all of sudden a child’s gone missing.”

Missing – and then found in the most heartbreaking of circumstances, murdered and dumped on the side of a highway.

Yesterday police released details about a man they wished to speak to who was seen in the seen with a suitcase just two kilometres from where the skeletal remains were found in South Australia.

The remains were originally placed inside a dark grey suitcase that sat on the side of the Karoonda Highway for several weeks.

Listen to The Quicky debrief on the truth about William Tyrrell’s parents, and what happened after the three-year-old’s disappearance. Post continues below.

Det-Supt Bray said police had been notified of a man seen by two women walking towards the highway between six to eight weeks ago carrying a suitcase between 7:30am and 8am.

Det-Supt Bray said the man did not engage with the women, which they thought was odd in a small country area.

“At about eight o’clock in the morning, they (the women) saw an elderly male walking … towards the highway and across the railway line,” he said. “That person was about 60 years of age, average height, lightly built, and neatly dressed and clean cut.

“He was carrying a dark coloured suitcase in one hand, and he was carrying it as opposed to wheeling it. They (the women) didn’t recognise this person as a local and they haven’t seen him since.”

“We have no description of the clothes he was wearing was not a local.

“There would not be many people walking around Wynarka carrying a suitcase at 7:30am in the morning.”

Superintendent Bray said that they believe the child was originally in the suitcase that had been concealed behind a bush on the Karoonda Highway but some point somebody removed the suitcase to a more visible point and the child’s remains.

“It’s hard to say what happened, or why, but we know for certain that somebody has come and found the suitcase, opened it to have a look what’s in there, tipped out the contents and at that stage become aware that it was most likely human remains.”

He said up to seven people have since told police they had seen the suitcase on the side of the road where police believe it was first placed about two months ago.

Police say that the suitcase was opened by some people who “poked around … not realising the importance of what was inside”.

This morning police are expected to get the results of a post mortem that took place yesterday.

We will keep you updated.

If you have any information in regards to the child you can call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or the Police Assistance Line on 131 444. Reports can be made anonymously.

For more.

Stop presuming this man is a kidnapper.

Man at centre of William Tyrrell investigation arrested over alleged child sex abuse.