The final photographs taken of missing boy William Tyrrell have been released, five years to the day since he disappeared from his foster grandmother’s home.

William, then aged three, vanished from the house in Kendall, on the north coast of New South Wales, on September 12, 2014. If he is alive, he would be eight years old.

He was last seen playing on his grandmother’s back verandah dressed in a Spiderman suit, with his foster mother saying he was ‘pretending to be daddy tiger’.

The foster mum, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, told the inquest she last heard him ‘roar’ in the back garden when he went silent – never to be seen again.

The new photos show William and his sister playing with crayons while his foster grandmother sits nearby reading the paper.

An additional computer-generated image, created by a forensic anthropologist, has been released showing what William would look like now, as an eight year old boy.

The images were released as police took the extraordinary step of releasing a direct phone number to the team of lawyers investigating the boy’s disappearance for the NSW deputy state coroner.

Never before seen photos have been released of the last time William Tyrrell’s foster parents saw him, playing with his sister on his foster grandmother’s balcony

The pictures were taken by William’s foster mother on a digital camera in the moments before he toddled into his foster nana’s back garden in Kendall, and was never seen again

The images were released amid confusion over the time the photos were actually taken – with official documents saying they were ‘created’ at 7.37am but ‘corrected’ to 9.35am

Forensic anthropologist Xanthe Mallett and her team have created this image of what William Tyrrell would look like today (supplied with permission from Ten)

The release of the pictures comes as confusion reigns over the time the pictures were actually taken.

Deputy state coroner Harriet Grahame last month ordered an independent review of the photographs, because of a discrepancy in forensic data about the pictures.

The pictures, handed to the inquest by NSW Police, were ‘created’ between 7.37am and 7.39am.

But the photos had a ‘corrected time’ ranging between 9.35am and 9.37am.

10 News reported the foster mother had told police she had never entered the correct time into the digital camera the pictures were taken on.

The coroner said she wanted the discrepancy examined.

Both the boy’s foster parents and biological parents have been ruled out as suspects the boy’s disappearance.

This was the final photograph taken of William. It has been at the heart of the publicity campaign to locate to the ‘missing boy in the Spiderman suit’

The inquest into the missing boy’s disappearance will continue into next year. Above, William’s biological father is seen outside the inquest, during hearings in Taree last month

On Thursday, NSW police provided the public with the phone number – 02 8346 1388 – for solicitors assisting the coroner with their landmark investigation into the missing boy.

Police are convinced ‘someone knows something’ as they have ‘information that suggests someone in the community’ had vital clues.

A $1 million reward for information leading to William has been on offer for three years but no one has yet come forward to claim it.

William’s biological grandmother today told The Australian his family refused to give up hope that he would one day be found.

‘We have been on a long journey. We miss him. We love him. It’s heartbreaking that he has not been found,’ she said.

The former head of the Tyrrell investigation, detective chief inspector Gary Jubelin, said at the weekend that he ‘had an idea’ of what may have happened to the boy

Newcastle University criminologist Xanthe Mallett told Ten News that William would look much different now that in the famous photo of him in the Spiderman costume he disappeared while wearing.

Experts at Newcastle University used pioneering age progression technology to create the image, which they say is an accurate representation of how William would appear now

His adult teeth would have come through by now, significantly changing the appearance of the lower part of his face.

William’s foster family released a statement on Wednesday opening up on the pain of not knowing what happened to him over five years.

‘Tomorrow marks five tragic years since William disappeared; five long years of unimaginable heartbreak and fear,’ they said.

‘Five years of unending sadness and tears; five years without answers, of not knowing where William is or what has happened to him.

‘And although we’ll mark five dark years of deep sadness and pain, we’ll also mark five years of hope that William will be found.

‘We’ll mark five years of endless love for him from across Australia and around the world.’

The inquest has dragged on over much of this year with a few weeks of testimony interrupted by breaks of several months.

The coroner has also released 146 pages of police interview with the man who may be the most credible witness to William’s disappearance.

Ronald Chapman last month told the inquest he believed he had witnessed William in the back seat of a car, speeding away from his foster grandmother’s street, on the day he vanished.

The inquest has now been adjourned until March.