The family of a toddler who disappeared from an Australian beach more than 50 years ago have criticised police for not formally interviewing potential eyewitnesses during a review of the case.
Officers suspect three-year-old Cheryl Grimmer was abducted from Fairy Meadow beach, which is about 50 miles (80km) south of Sydney in New South Wales (NSW), when she went missing on 12 January 1970. The Grimmer family had only just emigrated from the UK.
They have now been told the review, which took four years to complete, has not brought up any new evidence that could lead to a conviction.
They are angry that three potential eyewitnesses who spoke to the BBC were not formally interviewed by officers, despite their contact details being passed to police.
Ricki Nash, Cheryl's brother, said he felt total frustration about the way the review had been handled, which he understood was meant to be a detailed, full review of the case.
There are no words, just nothing, he said of the decision not to formally interview the potential eyewitnesses. Our family can't move forward without the help of the police....
The three potential eyewitnesses came forward after the BBC aired the Fairy Meadow true crime podcast in 2022, which has since been downloaded five million times.
One man, who asked to keep his identity private, said he had seen a teenage boy carrying away a small child from changing rooms beside the beach on the day Cheryl disappeared.
A petition asking the state parliament to set up an inquiry into missing persons investigations overseen by NSW Police, such as Cheryl's, attracted more than 10,000 signatures this summer.
NSW Police said all information received, including potential eyewitness accounts from the BBC, was properly assessed. They added that they met with members of Cheryl's family last September for a three-hour discussion about the police review in which all known and verified facts were clearly outlined.
In 2020, 50 years after Cheryl disappeared, NSW Police offered a reward of one million Australian dollars to anyone providing information that led to a successful conviction.
