{"id":96725,"date":"2025-10-02T11:47:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T11:47:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=96725"},"modified":"2025-10-02T11:47:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T11:47:11","slug":"area-of-interest-found-in-search-for-girl-who-vanished-55-years-ago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=96725","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Area of interest\u2019 found in search for girl who vanished 55 years ago"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>4 Minute, 14 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
\n

A volunteer team using cadaver detection dogs to search for the body of a British child who disappeared in Australia more than 50 years ago has found an \u201carea of interest\u201d.<\/p>\n

The group hopes their finding is a breakthrough into Cheryl Grimmer\u2019s case and have reported the location to New South Wales Police, who are now on the scene.<\/p>\n

Authorities suspect the three-year-old, who\u2019d emigrated from Bristol with her family, was abducted from Fairy Meadow beach in Wollongong in January 1970.<\/p>\n

\u201cA search will be conducted tomorrow with the assistance of specialist officers as part of ongoing inquiries,\u201d police told the BBC in an emailed statement.<\/p>\n

Today, bathed in the sun, the beach looks as idyllic as it must have been all those years ago. From the sand dunes, looking inland, the terrain gradually climbs into dense bushland.<\/p>\n

A short drive up into the hills, there\u2019s a small pocket of woodland on the edge of an upmarket suburb that could reveal a terrible secret.<\/p>\n

Balgownie was the location mentioned in a confession made by a teenage boy \u2013 also from England \u2013 a year after the toddler vanished. Decades later, a judge disallowed that admission.<\/p>\n

In 2019,\u00a0a trial of the suspect, known only by a codename, Mercury, who\u2019d been charged with Cheryl Grimmer\u2019s abduction and murder, collapsed. The man, in his 60s, had denied any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n

\"'Area<\/figure>\n

Cheryl\u2019s brother Ricki Nash was seven when his little sister vanished. He last saw her in the changing rooms at Fairy Meadow.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis should have been done 55 years ago,\u201d he said as the specialist team with dogs trained to detect human remains began its work. \u201cMy question is, why wasn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

\u201cYes it\u2019s extraordinary. The police have never canvassed this area in detail even though they had a confession. Not just a confession, a very detailed one.\u201d<\/p>\n

He has spent a lifetime craving answers, but doesn\u2019t want to find them here among the tall trees, creek and bushes.<\/p>\n

\"'Area<\/figure>\n

\u201cWe always live with the hope that someone took her that couldn\u2019t have a child, raised her well. One day she\u2019d grow up, find out she didn\u2019t belong to that family. We\u2019ve had people over the years do that to me and to our family: knock on the door and say that they are Cheryl and your heart rate goes at a million-to-one.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were hoping for it to be Cheryl one day. So, to be here looking for a body or part thereof, I mean, it\u2019s not a good thing,\u201d Mr Nash told the BBC.<\/p>\n

Nine-year-old Rufus is the principal search dog. His handler is Chris D\u2019Arcy, the president of Search Dogs Sydney, a charity, who\u2019d offered to help the Grimmer family after attending a missing persons seminar in Wollongong. He\u2019d also heard the BBC\u2019s Fairy Meadow podcast, presented by Jon Kay, which has been downloaded five million times.<\/p>\n

The canine team has had success in previous cold cases dating back more than half a century. Last year, they found human remains in a lake in northern New South Wales.<\/p>\n

Now, Mr D\u2019Arcy\u2019s team believes it has made a potential breakthrough in the Grimmer case.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we believe we have located is an area of interest and will pass the information on to the authorities,\u201d he said. \u201cThe dog showed a distinct change in behaviour.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ricki Nash said the news made him \u201ctremble\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it is Cheryl out there \u2013 she has been there for 55 yearsnow \u2013 she shouldn\u2019t have been,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"'Area<\/figure>\n

Balgownie was mostly farmland in 1970. Frank Sanvitale, a former detective who worked on the Grimmer case, has come to support members of Cheryl\u2019s family. They have become close and share deep frustrations about the broader police investigation over the decades.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo find something after 55 years, I\u2019m hoping we do, but the chances are one in a million,\u201d he explained. \u201cIt would be like winning four lotteries in a row. You\u2019ve got to use a bit of common sense and be sensible and logical about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The retired investigator has challenged the individual or group responsible for the toddler\u2019s disappearance to come forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat about doing something for Cheryl, that little girl you took away and owning up to what you did and [giving] families here in Australia and in England\u2026 some peace,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"'Area<\/figure>\n

Tragedy sends ripples of grief through families. Ricki Nash\u2019s daughter, Melanie Grimmer, has four children. She is also anxiously waiting for news of the search at a command post on the side of the road.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know my dad hopes that nothing is found. I hope she\u2019s found, I hope the baby girl comes home. My family has been through so much and it is a continuous fight,\u201d she told the BBC. \u201cI feel sick in my stomach being here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Much has changed since 1970. But one thing remains steadfast \u2013\u00a0the determination of a grieving family\u00a0to uncover the truth.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n \n
\n \n \"Happy\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Happy <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n \n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Sad\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Sad <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Excited\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Excited <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Sleepy\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Sleepy <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n \n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Angry\"\n <\/a>\n
Angry<\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Surprise\"\n <\/a>\n
Surprise<\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\"'AreaA volunteer team using cadaver detection dogs to search for the body of a British child who disappeared in Australia more than 50 years ago has found an “area of interest”.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9723,7556,1910,10,9,9724],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-area-of-interest","category-girl","category-international","category-politics","category-popular","category-varnished"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=96725"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96725\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=96725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=96725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=96725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}