The family of a toddler who disappeared from an Australian beach more than 50 years ago have criticized 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.
The family is particularly upset 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, expressed total frustration over the investigation's mishandling, which he believed was meant to be thorough. He lamented, Our family can't move forward without the help of the police.
The witnesses stepped forward after the release of the Fairy Meadow true crime podcast in 2022, which gained significant audience traction, being downloaded five million times. One eyewitness reported seeing a teenage boy carrying a small child from nearby changing rooms at the beach on the day Cheryl disappeared.
The man communicated briefly with the police but did not receive further follow-up. According to former detectives involved in the case, the eyewitness testimony is highly credible.
In 2017, a man was charged with Cheryl's abduction and murder based on a confession from a teenager in 1971; however, the confession was excluded from trial, and the suspect was released without any charges persisting.
Ricki expressed disappointment over the police's actions, questioning the sincerity behind a one million Australian dollar reward offered for credible information leading to a conviction when the police did not follow up meaningfully on new leads.
The family has sent open letters detailing their frustrations about the investigation over the years. They feel that significant errors have occurred since that fateful day in 1970.
