Animal Bones Discovered in Search for Child Who Vanished Fifty-Five Years Ago
A specific zone flagged in a volunteer-led investigation for the body of a English girl who went missing in Australia 55 years ago has turned out to be a false alarm, New South Wales Police confirmed.
A volunteer team who used cadaver detection dogs in the search for Cheryl Grimmer had hoped their finding would represent a breakthrough in the case, which has stayed a mystery since she disappeared in the year 1970, when she was three.
But bones that were found in the location are from an non-human creature, law enforcement stated in reply to queries, noting that the search had "concluded."
Authorities believe Cheryl, who had moved from Bristol with her relatives, was abducted from a coastal area in the city in January 1970.
Recent Search Efforts
Thursday's search took place in a local suburb, on a small pocket of forest referenced in a admission made by a teenage boy.
In the year 2019, a court case of the accused, known only by a alias, the pseudonym, who'd been charged with the crimes against Cheryl, ended abruptly. The man, in his 60s then, had rejected any involvement.
Prosecutors later dropped charges against him as a court official disallowed the confession he made as a juvenile.
Unsolved Case
Authorities have conducted numerous searches in the decades since Cheryl disappeared, but have uncovered few leads as to what happened to her.
NSW authorities have offered a A$1m incentive for information on Cheryl's abduction and suspected murder.
Relatives' Views
Her sibling Ricki, 62, has publicly highlighted what he believes are mistakes in the police investigation going back to the day she disappeared.
He was seven years old then. He last saw his sibling in the locker area at Fairy Meadow on the day she disappeared.
Public Response
A petition asking the state parliament to set up an inquiry into cases of disappeared individuals handled by NSW Police, such as this one, collected more than 10,000 supporters this summer.
It was debated in the legislature, but in a letter responding to petitioners, officials made no commitment to holding an review.
