The family of missing Cheryl Grimmer has accused New South Wales Police of neglect after officers failed to interview new witnesses in a major review of the 1970 disappearance.
Three-year-old Cheryl vanished from Fairy Meadow Beach, south of Sydney, shortly after her family emigrated from the UK. Despite a four-year review, police say no new evidence was found.
Cheryl’s brother, Ricki Nash, expressed deep frustration, calling the review incomplete. He said police ignored three potential eyewitnesses who contacted the BBC following its Fairy Meadow podcast, downloaded over five million times.
One man reported seeing a teenage boy carrying a child from the beach, while two women described suspicious encounters near the area before Cheryl vanished. None were formally interviewed.
Retired detective Damian Loone, who previously led the case, labeled the oversight as “sloppy police work,” insisting these witnesses could provide crucial leads.
In 2017, a man codenamed Mercury was charged with Cheryl’s abduction, but charges were dropped after his confession was ruled inadmissible.
Ricki, who was seven when Cheryl disappeared, has written an open letter demanding accountability and has gathered over 10,000 petition signatures for a parliamentary inquiry.
Police claim all information, including BBC witness details, was assessed but not all submissions met investigative criteria.
Cheryl’s family continues to seek justice, urging authorities to take new leads seriously and fulfill their promise behind the one million Australian dollar reward offered in 2020.
“You offer a reward, people come forward, and yet you don’t speak to them,” said Ricki. “How can we move forward?”
