Cheryl Grimmer case: Latest witness in Fairy Meadow disappearance

• The mysterious disappearance in 1970 has remained unsolved.
• Cheryl’s family had recently migrated from the UK to Fairy Meadow.
• The eyewitness recounted the incident on the true-crime podcast Fairy Meadow.

A potential new eyewitness has shared that he observed a teenage boy carrying a small child away from an Australian beach on the day a three-year-old, Cheryl Grimmer, went missing.

The mysterious disappearance in 1970, believed to be an abduction, has remained unsolved. Cheryl’s family had recently migrated from the UK to Fairy Meadow in New South Wales.

The eyewitness, who was seven at the time, recounted the incident on true crime podcast Fairy Meadow. He described seeing an adolescent male leaving the female changing rooms at the Wollongong beach, providing a detailed account of the events. Police have reportedly reached out to the man after this information came to light.

Cheryl vanished from the changing rooms on January 12, 1970, when her brother momentarily turned away while looking after her.

The potential witness, requesting anonymity, vividly recalled seeing the teenage boy with the child, noting the boy’s appearance and the chaotic scene caused by a sudden change in wind direction, known as a “southerly buster.”

The eyewitness did not report what he saw to the police at the time, as he was unaware that a child had been abducted. He explained that his family, having recently arrived from Eastern Europe, did not speak English and were oblivious to the significance of the event.

A retired detective who reinvestigated the case in 2016 finds the new witness’s testimony “compelling” and believes it is the first description of someone seeing a teenage boy carrying a child from the beach.

The former detective expressed the importance of fully investigating the new information.

New South Wales Police have reportedly made contact with the man in response to the recent developments. Cheryl Grimmer’s elder brother expressed hope that the police would thoroughly investigate the new lead.

In 2016, charges against a man in his sixties, previously accused of Cheryl’s murder based on a teenage boy’s confession, were dropped when a judge ruled the confession inadmissible as trial evidence.

The case remains open, with a reward of AU$ 1 million offered for information leading to a conviction.

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