In brief
After 55 years of uncertainty, the search for three-year-old Cheryl Grimmer, who went missing from Fairy Meadow beach in 1970, has reignited with a recent discovery by a volunteer team using cadaver detection dogs. The location has been reported to New South Wales Police, who will conduct further examinations in hopes of finally delivering answers to Cheryl's family.
A volunteer team using cadaver detection dogs to search for the body of a British child who disappeared in Australia more than 50 years ago has found an 'area of interest'.
The group hopes their finding is a breakthrough in Cheryl Grimmer's case and have reported the location to New South Wales Police, who are now on the scene.
Authorities suspect the three-year-old, who had emigrated from Bristol with her family, was abducted from Fairy Meadow beach in Wollongong in January 1970. A search will be conducted tomorrow with the assistance of specialist officers as part of ongoing inquiries, police told the BBC in a statement.
Today, bathed in the sun, the beach looks as idyllic as it must have been all those years ago. From the sand dunes, looking inland, the terrain gradually climbs into dense bushland. A short drive up into the hills, there's a small pocket of woodland on the edge of an upmarket suburb that could reveal a terrible secret.
Balgownie was the location mentioned in a confession made by a teenage boy - also from England - a year after the toddler vanished. Decades later, a judge disallowed that admission.
In 2019, a trial of the suspect, known only by a codename, Mercury, who'd been charged with Cheryl Grimmer's abduction and murder, collapsed. The man, in his 60s, had denied any wrongdoing.
Cheryl's brother, Ricki Nash, who was seven when his little sister vanished, expressed his frustration: This should have been done 55 years ago. My question is, why wasn't it? He has spent a lifetime craving answers.
Ricki shared his hopes that someone might still reveal the truth, even as the hunt continues: We always live with the hope that someone took her that couldn't have a child, raised her well. The volunteer canine team, hopeful of a breakthrough, has successfully solved cold cases in the past and is optimistic about their findings in this one.
The new search efforts led by Chris D'Arcy underscore a persistent dedication to finding Cheryl. Although chances of resolution after so long are slim, the commitment of Cheryl's family and the community remains unyielding.
