Family Hails Move to Reopen Cold Case of British Girl Missing in Australia
Three-year-old Cheryl Grimmer vanished from Fairy Meadow beach in Wollongong in January 1970. Despite extensive searches, authorities found no leads at the time.
In 2017, a suspect was charged with her abduction and murder, but the trial collapsed after his teenage confession was deemed inadmissible. He denies wrongdoing, and prosecutors subsequently dropped the case.
Following public pressure, including advocacy from Cheryl’s family, the New South Wales (NSW) director of public prosecutions announced that her office is willing to conduct a special review of the case. Sally Dowling wrote to the family, noting that while the usual time limit for requesting a review had passed, she would consider revisiting the matter.
Dowling said the review could be based on evidence provided to police in 2019, or the family could wait until detectives examine “fresh” information they recently discovered.
“It’s taken way too many years but finally we’re really happy that they see our fight for some justice for Cheryl,” Ricki Nash, Cheryl’s older brother, said.
The 2022 BBC Fairy Meadow podcast, which explored Cheryl’s disappearance, has led at least one new witness to come forward. Nash added that the family had formally asked NSW Police to reopen the investigation to include new evidence obtained since 2019.
“We are not asking for anything extraordinary,” he said. “When transparency leads the process, evil can no longer hide behind process failures or bureaucratic division.”
Cheryl and her family had recently migrated to Australia from Bristol under the so-called Ten Pound Poms scheme before she vanished.
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