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 has reported the location to New South Wales Police, who are now on the scene.
Authorities suspect that the three-year-old, who 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 stated.
Today, bathed in the sun, the beach looks as idyllic as it must have been all those years ago. The terrain gradually climbs into dense bushland.
A small pocket of woodland on the edge of an upmarket suburb might reveal a terrible secret. Balgownie was mentioned in a confession made by a teenage boy a year after the toddler vanished, although years later, a judge disallowed that admission.
In 2019, a trial of the suspect, charged with Cheryl Grimmer's abduction and murder, collapsed.
Cheryl's brother, Ricki Nash, who was seven when his little sister vanished, expressed his frustrations over the lack of investigation in certain areas and shared the hope that this might finally bring closure.
Ricki described, This should have been done 55 years ago. My question is, why wasn't it? The police had a confession but never canvassed this area in detail.
As search dogs are utilized to uncover potential clues, Ricki Nash's anxiety tumbles as he cautions how devastating it would be to find his sister this way after so many years.
In memory of the child who vanished all those decades ago, the primary aim remains—hope for answers.
