The search for three-year-old Cheryl Grimmer, who disappeared from Fairy Meadow beach in Wollongong, Australia, in January 1970, has potentially reached a breakthrough. A volunteer team, utilizing cadaver detection dogs, has identified an “area of interest” in the dense bushland near Balgownie, a location previously mentioned in a confession by a teenage boy shortly after Cheryl’s disappearance.
New South Wales Police have been informed and are now conducting a thorough search of the area, a move Cheryl’s brother, Ricki Nash, who was seven when his sister vanished, described as long overdue. He expressed his lifelong hope that Cheryl might have been raised by another family, but admitted that the current search for any remains was a difficult prospect.
“We were hoping for it to be Cheryl one day,” Mr. Nash stated, reflecting on the years of searching for answers. “So, to be here looking for a body or part thereof, I mean, it’s not a good thing.”
The volunteer team, led by Chris D’Arcy of Search Dogs Sydney, has a history of success in locating human remains in decades-old cold cases. D’Arcy noted that their dog showed a “distinct change in behaviour” in the specific area, prompting them to pass the information to the authorities.
The case has remained a painful mystery for the Grimmer family, with Cheryl’s niece, Melanie Grimmer, expressing the ongoing emotional toll. “My family has been through so much and it is a continuous fight,” she said. “I feel sick in my stomach being here.”
Despite the passage of time and the emotional burden, the family’s determination to uncover the truth about Cheryl’s fate remains unwavering.