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 area of interest.
The group hopes their finding is a breakthrough in Cheryl Grimmer's case and have reported the location to New South Wales Police, who are now on the scene.
Authorities suspect the three-year-old, who'd emigrated from Bristol with her family, was abducted from Fairy Meadow beach in Wollongong in January 1970.
A search will be conducted tomorrow with the assistance of specialist officers as part of ongoing inquiries, police told the BBC in an emailed statement.
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.
A short drive up into the hills, there's a small pocket of woodland on the edge of an upmarket suburb that could reveal a terrible secret.
Balgownie was the location mentioned in a confession made by a teenage boy - also from England - a year after the toddler vanished. Decades later, a judge disallowed that admission.
In 2019, a trial of the suspect, known only by a codename, Mercury, who'd been charged with Cheryl Grimmer's abduction and murder, collapsed. The man, in his 60s, had denied any wrongdoing.
Ricki Nash, Cheryl's brother, stated that this search should have been conducted decades ago and expressed frustration at the police not canvassing this area despite having a confession.
What we believe we have located is an area of interest and will pass the information on to the authorities, said Chris D'Arcy, the president of Search Dogs Sydney, highlighting the significant behavioral change in the detection dogs.
As the search continues, the family hopes for closure while grappling with the painful memories of Cheryl's disappearance.
