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 stated.
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. However, decades later, a judge disallowed that admission.
In 2019, a trial of the suspect, known only by the codename Mercury, who had been charged with Cheryl Grimmer's abduction and murder, collapsed; the man, in his 60s, denied any wrongdoing.
Cheryl's brother, Ricki Nash, who was seven at the time of her disappearance, expressed frustration at the delayed search. This should have been done 55 years ago, he lamented, highlighting the ongoing yearning for answers. Why wasn't it? he asked.
The volunteer search team, led by Chris D'Arcy of Search Dogs Sydney, remains hopeful after the dogs displayed a distinct behavioral change in the area of interest.
Ricki Nash questioned the prolonged nature of the investigation, stating, Yes, it’s extraordinary. The police have never canvassed this area in detail even though they had a confession.
On a poignant note, Nash reflected on the pain of searching potentially for his sister’s remains, expressing a wish for better outcomes: We always live with the hope that someone took her that couldn't have a child, raised her well...
As the families involved push for closure after decades of anguish, the determination to uncover the truth about Cheryl Grimmer's fate continues to shine through the shadows of time.
