Creature Remains Discovered in Hunt for Child Who Vanished 55 Years Ago
A specific zone flagged in a volunteer-led search for the remains of a British girl who went missing in Australia 55 years ago has turned out to be a false alarm, local authorities said.
A group of searchers who used cadaver detection dogs in the search for Cheryl Grimmer had believed their finding would represent a major development in the case, which has stayed a unsolved puzzle since she vanished in 1970, when she was just three years old.
But skeletal fragments that were uncovered in the location belong to an non-human creature, law enforcement stated in reply to questions, adding that the operation had "ended."
Investigators believe Cheryl, who had emigrated from Bristol with her relatives, was abducted from a coastal area in Wollongong in January 1970.
Recent Search Efforts
Thursday's search took place in Balgownie, on a tiny section of woodland mentioned in a admission made by a young male.
In the year 2019, a trial of the suspect, known only by a alias, the pseudonym, who'd been indicted with the crimes against Cheryl, ended abruptly. The man, in his 60s then, had rejected any wrongdoing.
Legal authorities later withdrew charges against him as a court official disallowed the statement he made as a juvenile.
Ongoing Mystery
Authorities have conducted numerous investigations in the decades since Cheryl went missing, but have found limited leads as to what occurred to her.
NSW authorities have offered a one million Australian dollar reward for information on Cheryl's abduction and suspected murder.
Relatives' Views
Her sibling Ricki Nash, 62, has openly discussed what he believes are errors in the police investigation going back to the time she went missing.
Mr Nash was seven then. He final sighting of his sibling in the changing rooms at Fairy Meadow on the date she vanished.
Community Action
A formal request asking the local government to establish an inquiry into cases of disappeared individuals overseen by NSW Police, such as Cheryl's, gathered more than 10,000 supporters this season.
It was debated in parliament, but in a response responding to those who signed, officials made no promise to conducting an inquiry.
