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'd 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 an emailed statement.
Today, bathed in the sun, the beach looks as idyllic as it must have been all those years ago. However, from the sand dunes, looking inland, the terrain gradually climbs into dense bushland where a potential secret may lie.
Balgownie was mentioned in a confession made by a teenage boy a year after the toddler vanished, but later, a judge disallowed that admission.
In 2019, a trial collapsed against a suspect known only by the codename Mercury, charged with Cheryl Grimmer's abduction and murder. The man, now in his 60s, has denied any wrongdoing.
Ricki Nash, Cheryl’s brother, emphasized the significance of the new search area, questioning why it had not been explored thoroughly before. This should have been done 55 years ago. My question is, why wasn't it? said Nash.
As the search continues, hope is mingled with despair among the Grimmer family, including Melanie Grimmer, Ricki’s daughter, who echoed her father’s sentiments, hoping for closure after enduring years of uncertainty.
The search, led by a team that succeeded in other cold cases, has ignited hope once more, as they investigate a potential breakthrough in the 55-year-long search for answers regarding Cheryl's disappearance.
