A specific zone identified in a volunteer-led investigation for the body of a English child who vanished in Australia fifty-five years ago has turned out to be a mistaken lead, local authorities said.
A volunteer team who used cadaver detection dogs in the quest for Cheryl Grimmer had hoped their discovery would represent a breakthrough in the case, which has remained a unsolved puzzle since she vanished in 1970, when she was three.
But skeletal fragments that were found in the area belong to an non-human creature, law enforcement stated in response to queries, adding that the operation had "ended."
Authorities believe the young girl, who had emigrated from her UK hometown with her family, was abducted from a coastal area in the city in January 1970.
Latest Investigation Steps
Thursday's search happened in a local suburb, on a tiny section of woodland mentioned in a admission made by a teenage boy.
In 2019, a court case of the accused, known only by a codename, Mercury, who'd been indicted with Cheryl's abduction and murder, ended abruptly. The man, in his sixties then, had rejected any involvement.
Prosecutors later dropped charges against him as a court official disallowed the statement he made as a juvenile.
Ongoing Mystery
Police have carried out numerous searches in the decades since she disappeared, but have found limited clues as to what happened to her.
NSW authorities have offered a A$1m incentive for tips on the case of Cheryl's disappearance and presumed death.
Relatives' Views
Cheryl's brother Ricki, sixty-two, has publicly highlighted what he thinks are mistakes in the police investigation dating back to the time she disappeared.
He was seven then. He final sighting of his sibling in the locker area at the beach on the day she vanished.
Public Response
A formal request asking the state parliament to set up an investigation into cases of disappeared individuals handled by the police force, such as Cheryl's, gathered more than 10,000 signatures this summer.
It was debated in the legislature, but in a response addressing petitioners, officials made no promise to holding an review.
