Animal Remains Discovered in Hunt for Child Who Vanished Fifty-Five Years Ago
A specific zone flagged in a community-driven search for the body of a English child who vanished in Australia fifty-five years ago has proven to be a mistaken lead, local authorities confirmed.
A volunteer team who used cadaver detection dogs in the search for the missing child had hoped their finding would represent a major development in the investigation, which has stayed a unsolved puzzle since she disappeared in 1970, when she was just three years old.
But bones that were found in the area are from an non-human creature, law enforcement said in reply to questions, noting that the search had "ended."
Authorities suspect the young girl, who had emigrated from Bristol with her family, was abducted from a coastal area in Wollongong in the start of 1970.
Recent Search Efforts
Thursday's search happened in Balgownie, on a small pocket of woodland referenced in a admission made by a teenage boy.
In the year 2019, a court case of the suspect, known only by a codename, the pseudonym, who'd been charged with Cheryl's abduction and murder, ended abruptly. The man, in his sixties then, had rejected any wrongdoing.
Prosecutors later withdrew charges against him as a judge disallowed the statement he made as a juvenile.
Unsolved Case
Police have conducted many investigations in the years since Cheryl went missing, but have uncovered limited clues as to what occurred to her.
NSW authorities have offered a A$1m incentive for tips on Cheryl's abduction and suspected murder.
Relatives' Views
Cheryl's brother Ricki, 62, has publicly highlighted what he thinks are mistakes in the police investigation going back to the day she disappeared.
Mr Nash was seven years old then. He last saw his sister 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 NSW Police, such as Cheryl's, collected more than 10,000 supporters this season.
It was discussed in parliament, but in a response responding to petitioners, officials made no commitment to holding an inquiry.
