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 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 had 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?
The retire investigator Frank Sanvitale, supporting the Grimmer family, expressed hope for a discovery but also warned of the slim chances. He challenged the perpetrator to come forward, urging them to give the grieving families in both Australia and England some peace.
The search continues for Cheryl Grimmer, who has been missing for over five decades, with her family hoping for a closure they have long desired.
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 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 had 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?
The retire investigator Frank Sanvitale, supporting the Grimmer family, expressed hope for a discovery but also warned of the slim chances. He challenged the perpetrator to come forward, urging them to give the grieving families in both Australia and England some peace.
The search continues for Cheryl Grimmer, who has been missing for over five decades, with her family hoping for a closure they have long desired.
