Family of vanished toddler demands accountability as Australian cold‑case inquiry launches

Mon Jun 15 2026 08:39:45 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

For over 50 years families of missing children have been left in doubt – now a parliamentary inquiry examines police failures and possible links to serial killer Ivan Milat.

In January 1970 a three‑year‑old British girl, Cheryl Grimmer, disappeared from a New South Wales beach and, despite a broad search, the case went cold. A brother has warned that police negligence cost the family decades of answers. The inquiry also probes the 1979 disappearance of Kay Docherty and alleged ties to serial killer Ivan Milat, while a silent suspect faced a collapsed trial in 2017. Families hope the proceedings will finally bring closure and reform the way missing‑person investigations are handled.

Family of vanished Trevor asks for justice as inquiry opens

For more than half a century, the parents of a three‑year‑old British girl, who vanished from a beach in Wollongong in 1970, have lived in limbo. The case, named after Cheryl Grimmer, never yielded a suspect or a discovery, and an inquiry into police procedures now brings the story back into public debate.

Police shortcomings are front and centre. In the first day of public hearings, the brother of the missing child, Ricki Nash, reminded a NSW parliamentary panel that if the police had acted swiftly in 1971 the truth about Cheryl’s fate could have surfaced then. He said the family lived for decades with the uncertainty that “the police failed them.”

A suspect, nicknamed “Mercury,” was charged with the kidnapping and murder of Cheryl in 2017, but the trial collapsed after his teenage confession was ruled inadmissible. The prosecutors abandoned the case, leaving the family’s grievance unresolved.

Other cold cases drawn into focus The inquiry also examined the disappearance of Kay Docherty, a 15‑year‑old who vanished near Wollongong in 1979. Families of other missing children, including the daughter of a former child‑hitchhiker, claim their cases have suffered from federal disinterest and lack of leadership. Some suspect that several unsolved disappearances in the region have links to notorious serial killer Ivan Milat, who murdered at least seven backpackers between 1989 and 1992.

Investigators offer new insights. Forensic criminologist Dr Xanthe Weston has provided testimony on Milat’s background, describing the killer as “egocentric” whose escalating violence followed personal tragedy. The chain of speakers indicates that a review of past investigations will continue over the coming months.

The inquiry makes it clear that the families involved want acknowledgement and reform of the investigative process. They hope a new approach will finally deliver answers that have eluded them for five decades.

NSW police have been asked to comment on the proceedings.

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