Disappearance of Cheryl Grimmer

Cheryl Grimmer was a three-year-old toddler who went missing on 12 January 1970 from a Wollongong beach, in Illawarra, New South Wales, Australia. She had been in the shower block at the beach when witnesses claim a man took her and ran off. Grimmer's disappearance has been without explanation for over 45 years. A suspect was arrested and charged in March 2017. Life before disappearance: The family emigrated from Knowle, a suburb of Bristol, England to Australia in 1969 when Cheryl was two years old and they were living in a hostel near to the beach where she disappeared. The family was mother Carole, father John and sons Ricki, Stephen and Paul. Cheryl was the Grimmers' only daughter. Disappearance: On the morning of 12 January 1970, the Grimmer family went to the beach at Fairy Meadow in Illawarra except for John Grimmer who was away working as a sapper for the Australian Army. When the weather turned at 1:30 pm, Carole Grimmer decided it was time to go home. The children all went to the shower block together whilst Carole Grimmer packed up their belongings. Ricki went back to Carole Grimmer ten minutes later saying that Cheryl was refusing to come out of the shower block. She followed Ricki back to the shower block moments later only to find that Cheryl had disappeared. There has been no trace of her since. Theories into Cheryl's disappearance: At the time, witnesses claimed that a man was seen holding Cheryl up to drink from a water fountain and then ran off with her wrapped up in a towel. She was also spotted being driven off in a white car. New South Wales Police Minister Michael Gallagher said that it is entirely possible that both Cheryl and her kidnapper were dead but that someone may know the truth. He also alluded to the possibility of someone being alive today suspecting that they may be Cheryl. One reason for this is that Cheryl had a medical condition that made her belly button protrude outwards by 10 millimetres and this would be easily identifiable if that person were alive today or if they had surgery to correct this. In 2012 a woman thought that she might be Cheryl. She submitted a DNA swab taken from her inside cheek, but this proved to not be a match for Cheryl Grimmer's DNA. Investigation into Cheryl's disappearance: Her disappearance sparked a massive manhunt and three days later, police received a note demanding $10,000 and saying that the child was unharmed. The police staged a drop for the money in Bulli, but the kidnapper never showed despite police earnestly believing the note was credible. The police disguised themselves as council workers for the ransom drop, but they fear this led to the kidnapper being spooked and that the large police operation may have also deterred the kidnapper from coming forward to claim their ransom. The case became famous in Australia and the family relocated back to England for ten years afterwards to escape the notoriety. A local man confessed to killing Cheryl, but police investigations revealed that his confession was false. Aftermath of the case: In May 2011, a coroner ruled that Cheryl had died sometime after going missing due to an undetermined cause, but Carole Grimmer stated that she believed her daughter was still alive. Both Carole and John Grimmer have since died without knowing what happened to Cheryl. Despite the coroner's ruling, police posted a $100,000 reward for information regarding Cheryl's disappearance. In 2016, a review of the evidence was carried out and all of the evidence and witness statements were computerised for the first time. The review threw up many leads and information that was not pursued thoroughly enough in 1970. Wollongong detectives and the Homicide Squad's Unsolved Homicide Team combined efforts into a new task force called 'Strike Force Wessell'. Police announced in December 2016 that they had a credible lead on a man who was seen carrying a fair-haired child at the time of Cheryl's disappearance from the beach. Police said that he was a teenager at the time, so would be in his 60s now, and appealed for him to come forward. On 23 March 2017, it was announced that a man had been arrested and charged with Grimmer's abduction and murder. Police stated that it is unlikely that Cheryl's body will ever be found as there has been substantial development of the once-rural area in the 47 years since the abduction. In April 2017, NSW police stated that they were trying to trace a family who gave a witness statement on the day of the abduction. The family moved soon after to Papua New Guinea and then back to their native Nottinghamshire in England. Interpol helped to trace the witness, now 80-years old, whose testimony is expected to be crucial in the upcoming court case. In May 2017, it was revealed that the suspect who was arrested in March 2017 had confessed to Cheryl's abduction and murder back in 1970. However, police at the time did not believe him. The accused is a 63-year-old man who was born in Britain and has been in Australia since the late 1960s. He has not been named, as he was 16-years-old at the time of the alleged offence and therefore a minor.