Creature Bones Discovered in Search for Child Who Vanished Fifty-Five Years Ago
A specific zone identified in a volunteer-led search for the body of a British girl who vanished in Australia fifty-five years ago has turned out to be a false alarm, local authorities confirmed.
A group of searchers who used specialized canines in the search for Cheryl Grimmer had hoped their finding would mark a major development in the investigation, which has remained a unsolved puzzle since she disappeared in 1970, when she was just three years old.
But bones that were found in the area belong to an non-human creature, law enforcement stated in response to queries, noting that the search had "ended."
Investigators believe Cheryl, who had moved from her UK hometown with her family, was abducted from Fairy Meadow beach in the city in the start of 1970.
Recent Search Efforts
The recent operation took place in Balgownie, on a small pocket of woodland referenced in a admission made by a teenage boy.
In 2019, a trial of the accused, known only by a codename, the pseudonym, who'd been indicted with the crimes against Cheryl, collapsed. The individual, in his sixties then, had denied any wrongdoing.
Prosecutors later dropped charges against him as a judge excluded the statement he made as a juvenile.
Ongoing Mystery
Police have carried out many investigations in the decades since she went missing, but have found few leads as to what occurred to her.
NSW authorities have announced a A$1m incentive for information on Cheryl's abduction and suspected murder.
Relatives' Views
Cheryl's brother Ricki, sixty-two, has openly discussed what he thinks are mistakes in the police investigation going back to the day she went missing.
He was seven then. He last saw his sibling in the locker area at Fairy Meadow on the day she disappeared.
Community Action
A petition asking the local government to set up an inquiry into cases of disappeared individuals overseen by the police force, such as this one, gathered more than ten thousand signatures this summer.
It was debated in parliament, but in a response responding to those who signed, state authorities made no commitment to holding an review.
