In brief
A volunteer search team has identified an 'area of interest' in the long-standing missing person case of Cheryl Grimmer, who vanished from Fairy Meadow beach, Australia, over 55 years ago. Using cadaver detection dogs, the team has reported their findings to New South Wales Police, prompting further investigation. The case remains a point of anguish for the family, particularly for her brother Ricki Nash, who's spent decades seeking answers. The community remains hopeful for closure as authorities prepare to conduct specialized searches.
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 was seven when his little sister vanished. He last saw her in the changing rooms at Fairy Meadow. 'This should have been done 55 years ago,' he said as the specialist team with dogs trained to detect human remains began its work. 'My question is, why wasn't it?'
Nine-year-old Rufus is the principal search dog. His handler, Chris D'Arcy, the president of Search Dogs Sydney, had offered to help the Grimmer family after attending a missing persons seminar in Wollongong. The canine team has had success in previous cold cases dating back more than half a century.
Ricki Nash said the news made him 'tremble'. 'If it is Cheryl out there – she has been there for 55 years now – she shouldn't have been.'
Tragedy sends ripples of grief through families. Ricki Nash's daughter, Melanie Grimmer, has four children. Much has changed since 1970. But one thing remains steadfast - the determination of a grieving family to uncover the truth.
