Forty-seven years ago, a ransom note was sent to Cheryl Grimmer's parents. Now police have made a stunning breakthrough in the abduction and suspected murder. Photo / News Corp
Forty-seven years ago, a ransom note was sent to Cheryl Grimmer's parents. Now police have made a stunning breakthrough in the abduction and suspected murder. Photo / News Corp
There is one man who will be terrified of the news that cold case detectives have made a stunning breakthrough in the Cheryl Grimmer abduction and suspected murder.
For almost 47 years, the question of who abducted Cheryl has hung over her family and police trying to solve one of Australia's most disturbing child cold cases.
In January 1970, the toddler was ripped away from her family in a daylight abduction from Fairy Meadow Beach, Wollongong, NSW.
The three-year-old was never seen again, but now detectives are poised to announce a major breakthrough - they believe whoever took Cheryl that day is still alive.
Cheryl Grimmer vanished in January 1970. Photo / News Corp Australia
Police are believed to be closing in on the killer, who would be aged in his 60s now, and was a teenager when Cheryl was abducted. New information given to investigators has led them to believe the abductor - and likely killer - is still alive.
The Daily Telegraph reported a review of the case exposed a major failing in the original investigation with a suspect being missed. The strike force officers' renewed investigations are focused on that person.
There was no sign of Cheryl after she was taken from a toilet and shower block at Fairy Meadow Beach on January 12, 1970. That hot summer's day she was at the beach with her mother and brothers. Her mother, Carole, was just a few metres away on the beach when her older brother Ricky left her alone in the toilet to get his mother to help her out.
The shower block where Cheryl Grimmer was abducted. Photo / News Corp Australia
The family had only just moved to Australia from England the year before. Her father John was in the army and based at the barracks in Penrith.
Cheryl, said to be a bubbly, happy child, just laughed when Ricky told her he was going to get their Mum to help her, he told the Telegraph.
She was by herself less than 30 seconds - but that is all it took for someone to strike.
Now the family are closer than ever to having answers. On Monday morning, Cheryl's brothers Ricky, Paul and Stephen Grimmer will join senior police at a media conference where new details are expected to be released.
After she vanished there were a few theories as to what happened, and who could be to blame. The most sensational was a ransom note sent to Cheryl's parents Carole and John three days later. The chilling note demanded $10,000 for the safe return of Cheryl.
There were many twists in the Cheryl Grimmer mystery, including an alleged ransom note. Photo / News Corp Australia
Undercover police waited at the drop-off point but no one came to make the pick up, leaving it unknown whether it really was the abductor, a hoax or a cruel scheme to make money off the back of a tragedy.
There was other speculation. A young girl was seen in a white car speeding away from the beach, while a mystery figure in orange swimsuit was supposedly seen grabbing her and running off.
Police hope the conscience of the person who took Cheryl will be enough to compel them to come forward. And if not, they are confident they are on the right path to finally ending one of NSW's most enduring mysteries.
